Democratic gubernatorial nominee Paulette Jordan had just wrapped up a town hall in this rural community and was talking to attendees lined up to meet her when she felt two hands gently grip the back of her arm.
“I just had to touch you,” an elderly woman said.
Some people, often older men, cry when they meet Jordan. Others tell her she’s inspiring them to vote for the first time in years. Strangers have asked her to marry them. A local artist spent months creating a portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe with an image of Jordan in it, dressed in what appears to be a velvet suit and standing on a crescent moon. (What?) Virtually everyone who crosses her path wants a photo with her, as HuffPost witnessed after traveling with her campaign for a few days this month.
Here in deep red Idaho, people across party lines are fanatic about this progressive, 38-year-old Native American woman vying for the state’s top seat. And it’s totally bizarre.
“I like her honesty and character and authenticity,” gushed Tri Robinson, a conservative Republican and evangelical pastor in Boise who hosted a fundraiser for Jordan. “She cares about what we care about. She cares about the poor. She cares about climate change.”
“I liked her before and I like her more now,” said Judy, a retiree who lives in Sweet and requested that she be identified only by first name. “I’ve never been to a town hall until now. I vote. I’m independent. What I like is that when you ask her a question, she doesn’t beat around the bush. She just answers the question.”
Ignisfilimundi 
