COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho — Members of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) met on March 25 for their regular monthly committee meeting. In typical fashion, the guest seats were filled, a courtesy extended by the committee for the public to observe its meetings.
The agenda included a procedural matter based on the KCRCC bylaws to vacate precinct seat 417 for the member’s failure to attend four consecutive meetings.
Precinct Committeeman Kathleen Tillman held the seat since May 2024 after running under the North Idaho Republican (NIR) banner alongside well-known names like former Coeur d’Alene Mayor Jim Hammond, former state Sen. Mary Souza, former Sheriff Pierce Clegg and former County Commissioner Todd Tondee in the primary election. The NIR group bills itself as “traditional Republicans” and often endorses candidates for political office in opposition to KCRCC-recommended candidates.
Tillman was one of 30 NIR-backed candidates to win precinct seats in the May 2024 primary, as was Kellie Palm, from precinct 314, who objected to the committee’s move to vacate Tillman’s seat.
According to multiple witnesses, Palm was upset because she believed Tillman should be given a pass for not attending meetings due to a death in the family. At one point, witnesses said that Palm lashed out at a fellow precinct committeeman, insinuating that he had murdered his recently deceased wife by pushing her down the stairs.
One observer told Kootenai Journal that Palm’s comments were “outrageous and appalling.” The meeting was soon taken into executive session, which forced all non-committee individuals to leave the room.
Sources confirm that Palm was expelled from the committee under Robert’s Rules of Order. Both precinct 314 and 417 are now listed as vacant on the KCRCC website.
The committee’s bylaws now govern how the two seats will be filled. Potential candidates must be affiliated with the Republican party and live within the boundaries of the precinct. Precinct maps can be found on the Kootenai County website at https://www.kcgov.us/319/Individual-Precinct-Maps. As a part of the Idaho GOP, the KCRCC is the official Republican Party in the county.
