Spirit Lake, Idaho is one of northern Kootenai County’s oldest incorporated communities — a former boomtown born out of the early 20th-century logging industry. More than a century later, this small lakefront city remains one of the most traditionally rooted, civic-minded, and overwhelmingly conservative communities in the entire Panhandle. Below is a full overview of Spirit Lake’s history, civic structure, public-safety services, political profile, and its 2024 presidential

I. Executive Synthesis: Defining the North Idaho Political Landscape Kootenai County, situated in the Idaho Panhandle, has undergone one of the most decisive political transformations in the Mountain West region over the past three decades. Historically, the county was politically competitive, occasionally favoring Democratic candidates due to its legacy economic structure. However, it transitioned rapidly to an absolute Republican stronghold between 1990 and 2010. Summary of