Ammon Bundy files paperwork to run for Idaho governor as Republican

BOISE, Idaho — Ammon Bundy, a far-right activist who legally can't step on Idaho Capitol grounds or be in the building, is running for governor, according to a filing with the Idaho secretary of state.

Bundy on Friday filed paperwork needed to collect donations to campaign in the governor's race. He enters an already crowded race of Republican candidates, including Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. Gov. Brad Little has not officially announced a run for reelection.

Bundy, of Emmett, was arrested twice last month in two hours on misdemeanor trespassing charges at the Statehouse building. Last August, he was barred from the Capitol grounds for one year and prohibited from coming to the public areas of the building.

He was arrested during the special session in August, during which he and others refused to move out of reserved press corps seats at a meeting. He was taken to the Ada County Jail twice in a 24-hour span after the arrests at the Capitol, and has been arrested at least three other times since then.

Bundy is a frequent protester of mask mandates and other health-safety measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic. He refused to wear a mask at an Emmett High School football game. Several people at the time called in 911 threats, and school officials in Caldwell, where the game was being held, canceled it at halftime. After that, the Caldwell School District trustees voted to ban him from district grounds until the end of this school year.

Bundy also supported an unsuccessful effort to recall Little after the governor issued a stay-at-home order last year in response to the pandemic.

Bundy is known for his anti-government views and for the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon that left one of his cohorts dead.