Political historian Randy Stapilus notes in his most recent Ridenbaugh Press post that Mitt Romney seemed to have the Idaho Republican support wrapped up in the last presidential race, though it hardly mattered, since by the time Idaho's May primary rolled around, Romney was out of the race and John McCain had the nomination sewn up. This time, though, it could matter more, with Idaho Republicans following their Democratic counterparts and switching to an early caucus to assign their presidential delegates; and there are some signs Romney's lock on Idaho GOP elected-official support is being offset by differing preferences among party activists - Romney placed fourth in the recent Kootenai County Reagan Republicans straw poll, with Rick Perry coming in first, followed by Ron Paul. You can read Stapilus' full post here.