The Neal Larson Show
Neal Larson is an Associated Press Award-winning newspaper columnist and radio talk show host. He has a BA from Idaho State University in Media Studies and Political Science. Neal is happily married to his wife Esther with their five children in Idaho Falls.
Julie Mason is a long-time resident of east Idaho with a degree in journalism from Ricks College. Julie enjoys reading, baking, and is an avid dog lover. When not on the air she enjoys spending time with her three children and husband of 26 years.
Together these two are a powerhouse of knowledge with great banter that comes together in an entertaining and informative show.
The Neal Larson Show
3.4.2026 - Party Cohesion, Lawmaker Accountability, Idaho Politics
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Neal Larson walks us through a new “party cohesion” metric he built (with help from AI and the legislative API) to measure how often Idaho lawmakers vote with the majority of their stated party on votes that break along clear partisan lines. The goal isn’t a purity test or a “gotcha,” but a sunlight tool: if you’re running with an “R” (or “D”), how often do you actually vote like one—especially on the big, ideological fights? Neal and Julie Mason dig into early House results (enough votes to be meaningful) while noting the Senate sample size is still tiny, and they talk about refining the model to filter out procedural votes and even weight issues (immigration vs. bureaucratic tweaks) based on what voters care about.
From there, the conversation broadens into accountability and trust: if a lawmaker’s public branding doesn’t match their roll-call behavior, that’s an integrity problem—not a “we demand 100% loyalty” problem. They get into why some lawmakers avoid coming on-air to explain votes, the frustration with the Senate’s slow pace, and how local party politics and money shape outcomes (including a weird rabbit hole about Bingham County GOP activity/donations and what that says about organization and credibility). The show also touches on national headlines—Article V convention chatter cooling off, campaign finance “sunshine portal” sleuthing, and quick reactions to broader political and foreign-policy news—while circling back to the same theme: voters should stop buying the packaging and start demanding explanations backed by real data.
- Neal’s new “party cohesion score” uses roll-call data to quantify how often lawmakers vote with their party’s majority (and why he wants to filter out procedural votes).
- A practical threshold: Neal/Julie are comfortable in the mid-80%+ range—independence is fine, misrepresentation isn’t.
- The Senate has had very few qualifying votes so far, raising questions about workload, process, and transparency.
- Campaign finance transparency: how to use Idaho’s Sunshine Portal—and why PAC money can become a circular maze.
- Local party organization issues (and funding) matter more than people want to admit when it comes to who ends up representing you.
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