Idaho Democratic Party names top official: a former Obama campaign organizer

The Idaho Democratic Party has hired Jared DeLoof as the party’s new executive director, it announced in a news release this week.

DeLoof spent five years working with the political organization NextGen America, which focuses on mobilizing young progressives. DeLoof worked with the organization on registering “hundreds of thousands of voters and electing Democrats up and down the ballot,” the news release said.

“We couldn’t be more excited about his experience and knowledge he will bring to Idaho to help capitalize on the radicalization and defeat the out-of-touch GOP politicians in the Idaho Legislature,” Idaho Democratic Party Chair Fred Cornforth said in the release.

DeLoof was “a farm kid” from Pennsylvania and worked as a rural organizer for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, the release said.

“This is one of the toughest states for Democrats, but we are committed to fighting for every vote and outworking the Republicans at every turn,” DeLoof said in the release. “We believe that when Idahoans are given the choice between our common sense solutions to Idaho’s problems and the radical and extreme positions of the Idaho Republican Party we can not only be competitive but can win all across Idaho.”

The party’s last executive director, Elle Casner, ended her employment in January. She had worked for several years with the party and on campaigns for Idaho Democrats. The party has cycled through leaders in recent years, including one executive director who was fired in 2019 in his first week.