Way Back money reaches Defend and Protect Idaho, where Gary Raney and Judith Ellis oversee candidate support/opposition spending

Defend and Protect Idaho provides one of the clearest Idaho endpoints for the Western Futures/Way Back network. The PAC’s own website identifies Judith Ellis as treasurer. Current Idaho reporting identifies retired Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney as chairman and says the committee was founded by Raney and other retired law-enforcement figures. In the 2026 Republican primary cycle, Idaho Capital Sun reported that Defend and Protect Idaho spent more than $752,800 supporting 23 Republican candidates and opposing 14 others, including more than $270,000 supporting candidates and more than $480,000 opposing candidates. Idaho Education News similarly reported total spending of about $751,000 and identified Way Back PAC as the PAC’s largest donor at $350,000 during that cycle. Current FEC-derived reporting for Way Back independently reports $350,000 in 2026 disbursements to Defend and Protect Idaho, while a primary Way Back FEC filing separately records an earlier $25,000 payment to DPI in 2025. This establishes a documented Idaho steering/use endpoint: Gary Raney as chairman and Judith Ellis as treasurer oversee an Idaho PAC that received substantial Way Back funds and used its treasury for independent political spending supporting and opposing named Idaho legislative candidates. It does NOT establish that Raney/Ellis personally received the Way Back funds, that Western Futures or Sixteen Thirty selected the Idaho candidates, or that a specific WFF/1630 dollar can be traced into a particular DPI advertisement or independent expenditure.