| Dorothy Moon | |
| Office: | Chair of the Idaho Republican Party |
| Term Start: | July 16, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Tom Luna |
| State House1: | Idaho |
| District1: | 8B |
| Term Start1: | December 1, 2016 |
| Term End1: | November 30, 2022 |
| Predecessor1: | Merrill Beyeler |
| Successor1: | Megan Blanksma (redistricting) |
| Birth Place: | Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Darr Moon |
| Children: | 2 |
| Education: | Missouri State University (BS, MS) |
Dorothy Moon (born 1958) is an American conservative[1] [2] [3] [4] politician who served as a Republican member of Idaho House of Representatives from the 8B district from 2016 to 2022. Moon has been the Chair of Idaho Republican Party since July 2022.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri,[5] [6] Moon grew up near the Ozark Mountains.[6] She earned a Bachelor of Science in secondary education and a Master of Science in resource planning from Missouri State University.[5]
Moon moved to Idaho in 1994.[6] She was a special education director and science teacher at Challis High School, retiring in 2012. Since 1994, she has been president of Moon & Associates, Inc, an engineering and surveying company, and owns a gold mining operation in central Idaho.[5] According to her official biography, she took part in a 1992 Antarctic expedition with Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory.[5]
In 2009, Moon became involved with the Tea Party movement.[6] She ran as a Republican for Idaho House of Representatives for the 8B district in 2016 and won the November 2016 election, defeating Ammon Emanuel Prolife with 87.3% of the votes.[7] She was re-elected in the November 2018 general election.[8] [9] The district consists of Lemhi, Custer, Boise, Gem, and Valley counties.[10]
In the 2022 elections, Moon sought the Republican nomination for Secretary of State of Idaho. Moon made baseless claims of voter fraud, claiming on the Idaho House floor without evidence that people from Canada came into Idaho to vote in the 2020 United States presidential election.[11] Moon lost the primary race to Phil McGrane.[12]
In July 2022, Moon was elected chair of the Idaho Republican Party, defeating incumbent Tom Luna by a vote of 434–287.[13] She drew praise from conservatives and libertarians for her hard-right voting record. Take Back Idaho, a group of Idaho Republicans who oppose extremism, decried her election as "absolutely disturbing."[14]
As chairwoman, Moon and her allies clashed with opponents from within the state Republican Party. The Republican Central Committees in Power County and Bingham County clashed with Moon over her efforts to invalidate elections to the local Republican organizations, with the Bingham County Republican officials suing the state Republican Party in court.Clark Corbin, Bingham County GOP sues Idaho Republican Party, Idaho Capital Sun (September 18, 2023).Shelbie Harris, Lawsuit alleges 'bully tactics' by Idaho Republican Chair Dorothy Moon, Idaho State Journal (September 15, 2023). Moon banned media from observing the March 2024 Republican caucuses,[15] a decision criticized by the Idaho Statesman editorial board.[16] In December 2023, Luna and another former Idaho Republican Party chair, Trent Clark, criticized Moon for undertaking "purges, division and expulsions" within the state party, writing that the party under Moon had "veered significantly from the inclusive big tent party envisioned by Ronald Reagan."Ian Max Stevenson, Former GOP heads say party needs 'course correction' after divisive changes, Idaho Statesman (December 7, 2023).
In June 2024, Moon was reelected as chair of the Idaho Republican Party, defeating former Idaho Legislator Mary Souza by a vote of 376 to 228.[17]
Moon is part of the far-right, which gained strength in Idaho politics in the 2020s. She is a member of the John Birch Society.[1]
Moon is a supporter of Eric Parker, a right-wing militia movement leader who pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of obstructing a court order, arising from his role in the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada, in which armed men faced off with federal agents at a ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. Moon organized a letter-writing campaign on Parker's behalf, and introduced him to applause in a session of the state House.[18] [19]
In 2020, Moon opposed the adoption of proposed state educational standards for English, literacy, and science; she specifically objected to what she contended was a negative portrayal of logging, mining and other resource extraction industries, and opposed content on the adverse environmental impacts of logging and dams.[20]
In 2021, Moon sponsored legislation that called for the killing of 90% of the state's gray wolves.[21] Moon also supported a measure to urge Congress to revoke "wilderness study area" designation from large swaths of Idaho land,[22] as well as a separate measure to urging Congress to restrict the ability of private landowners to sell their land to conservation organizations for transfer to a federal agency.[23]
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Idaho, Moon promoted an end-of-session party in downtown Boise, despite public health advice to avoid large in-person gatherings to prevent the spread of the disease.[24] In October 2020, she was one of several Republican Idaho elected officials to appear in an Idaho Freedom Foundation video questioning the existence of the pandemic.[25]
In February 2021, Moon supported a measure to ban state contractors from requiring employees to be vaccinated (against COVID-19 or any other disease).[26] During the legislative debate, Moon was one of several Republican state representatives who spread anti-vaccine misinformation, claiming that her son became autistic after receiving a vaccine.[26] During the debate, Moon said: "There's no way another Moon will ever take a vaccine until the end of any of our lives."[26]
In March 2021, Moon and fellow state Representative Heather Scott organized a demonstration in support of a bill to terminate the COVID-19 emergency in Idaho; the rally featured multiple face mask burnings in burn barrels.[27]
Moon has said she does not believe Joe Biden was legitimately elected president of the United States. Days after her election as party chair in July 2022, the party was scheduled to consider a resolution declaring as such.[14] [28]
Moon's husband is Darr, a licensed civil engineer and land surveyor who serves on the national council of the John Birch Society.[6] [29] They have two children.[5] They live near Stanley.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Phil McGrane | 113,894 | 43.0% | |
| Republican | Dorothy Moon | 109,690 | 41.5% | |
| Republican | Mary Souza | 41,057 | 15.5% |