David Worley
Relieved of command by the Idaho National Guard for 'counterproductive leadership.' Sued claiming Christian persecution. Federal court dismissed the suit. Then announced for Senate.
Who he is
David Worley is the IFF-network’s pick to flip Senate District 28 from incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Guthrie. He is a major in the Idaho Army National Guard. He was relieved of command in September 2024 by the Idaho Army National Guard’s Assistant Adjutant General. The institutional finding: Worley had “demonstrated counterproductive leadership that reduced morale, eroded trust and showed little respect for others.”
That is not a political framing by opponents. It is his military employer’s on-the-record assessment of his command behavior, entered after an internal review of his actual conduct.
His response was to file a 138-page federal lawsuit through Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian-nationalist legal group, alleging that the Idaho Army National Guard maintained a “No Christians in Command” policy that had been used against him.
On February 12, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge David Nye dismissed the lawsuit. The state’s filing characterized the alleged “No Christians in Command” policy as “a non-existent policy concocted by” Worley. The court agreed. There was no such policy.
One month after the federal judge threw out his religious-discrimination case, Worley announced his run for the Idaho State Senate. The dismissed lawsuit became the campaign credential.
The Army Guard sequence
The full chronology, assembled from the federal court record and contemporaneous reporting:
July 1, 2023. Worley’s orders to command the Idaho Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion begin.
February 11, 2023 (five months before he took command). Worley personally organized a sit-in protest at the Marshall Public Library against an LGBTQ-affirming children’s program. He was alongside Ron Nate, who became Idaho Freedom Foundation President in January 2024. Worley’s quoted purpose: “to protect children from being exposed to sexual deviancy.” His framing of the program: “part of a series that seeks to normalize transgenderism, a flawed and immoral combination of radical sex ideology and pseudoscience, which causes irreparable harm.” This public record was visible to anyone — including the subordinates who would shortly serve under him.
July 7, 2023. Worley meets the Sergeant First Class who would file an EEO complaint six days later.
July 13, 2023. Eight days into Worley’s command, the SFC filed a federally-protected EEO complaint citing sexual-orientation discrimination and a hostile work environment under Worley’s command, stating the complainant felt “threatened and unsafe” “merely due to Worley’s beliefs.” The Liberty Counsel narrative would later cite the 13-day timing as proof of persecution. The simpler reading: a soldier reacting to a brand-new commander whose pre-existing public anti-LGBTQ activism — including the Marshall Library protest five months earlier — was a Google search away.
The EEO investigation. The complaints against Worley were found “unsubstantiated.” The finding was that there was “no evidence Worley did anything wrong in the workplace” up to that point.
The follow-on policy recommendation. The National Guard branch then recommended that future candidates for command be investigated — explicitly including their private social media — to ensure they do not adhere to “toxic or concerning ideologies.” This recommendation is the specific document Liberty Counsel would later mischaracterize as an existing “No Christians in Command” policy.
September 2024. The Assistant Adjutant General relieves Worley of command. The basis was a separate, independent assessment of his actual command behavior, not the EEO complaint. The finding: “counterproductive leadership that reduced morale, eroded trust and showed little respect for others.”
January 2025. Worley files a 138-page federal lawsuit through Liberty Counsel. Central claim: the Idaho Army National Guard maintained a policy excluding Christians from command and applied it against him.
February 12, 2025. U.S. District Court Judge David Nye dismisses the lawsuit. Per the state’s filing, the “No Christians in Command” policy Worley sued over did not exist. It was, in the state’s words, “concocted” by Worley. The court agreed.
March 2025. Worley publicly indicated continued interest in litigation but had no live federal vehicle.
Early 2026. Worley filed to run against Sen. Jim Guthrie in the May 2026 Republican primary.
The conservative-media outlets ran the “Christian officer persecuted for his faith” frame. The federal court ran the “plaintiff sued over a policy that doesn’t exist” frame. Both are on the public record. Worley is campaigning on the first.
DOCUMENTED — FEDERAL COURT DISMISSAL
On February 12, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge David Nye dismissed Worley v. Little, the Liberty Counsel lawsuit alleging a 'No Christians in Command' policy at the Idaho Army National Guard. The state's response characterized the alleged policy as 'a non-existent policy concocted by' Worley. The court agreed. The lawsuit was Worley's response to being relieved of command in September 2024 for 'counterproductive leadership that reduced morale, eroded trust and showed little respect for others.'
The losing-candidate pattern, fully funded
Three races. Three losses. Escalating IFF-network investment each cycle.
2021 Pocatello mayoral race. Per the Idaho State Journal, Worley raised $28,162 from September 2 through end of October 2021 — about 43 percent from out-of-city donors mainly on the East Coast, including a $1,000 contribution from Morton Blackwell, founder of the Arlington-VA-based Leadership Institute (Worley’s then-employer). City officials publicly voiced concerns that Worley held “fringe beliefs regarding firearms and the sovereignty of local governments.” Worley cited the Floyd County Militia in Virginia as an organizing model and stated he would not follow court rulings or state/federal edicts deemed by local leaders to violate “the rights of people.” He lost.
2022 Idaho Senate race. Worley’s campaign-finance record shows the IFF apparatus wired in early. Per the Idaho SOS Sunshine database, donations of $500 or more to the 2022 Worley Senate campaign from named IFF leadership and affiliated entities:
| Amount | Donor |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | Idaho Freedom PAC |
| $1,000 | Idaho Freedom Coalition PAC (two contributions, $2,000 total) |
| $1,000 | Doyle Beck (IFF Board, personal) |
| $500 | Brent Regan (IFF Board Chairman, personal) |
| $1,000 | Bryan Smith’s law firm — Smith, Driscoll & Associates, PLLC |
| $1,000 | Stefan Gleason |
| $500 | RHINO PAC (two contributions, $1,000 total) |
| $1,000 | Scott Herndon For Idaho Senate (Herndon’s own committee) |
Eight separate IFF-network funding streams converging on a single first-time state-legislative candidate. Two IFF board members (Beck and Regan) giving personally. The IFF Vice Chair’s law firm. The Idaho Freedom Caucus chair’s own committee. Three IFF-aligned PAC vehicles. He lost to Democratic Sen. James Ruchti — a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army military intelligence officer — in a district Republicans should have been able to win with a normal conservative candidate.
2026 Idaho Senate race against incumbent Sen. Jim Guthrie. AG Raul Labrador’s April 8, 2026 endorsement is the new institutional layer. The dismissed federal lawsuit is the campaign-launch credential. Pruett’s Honor Idaho byline-attack on Guthrie (“One Man Continues to Block the Best Gun Bills for Idaho,” April 3, 2026) is the propaganda-side operation feeding the race.
The pattern is the Marmon arc, run from a different starting position. Marmon was recalled in 1987, lost four primaries 2010-2022, then won in 2024 with three times the prior cycle’s money against an incumbent Republican. Worley lost mayoral 2021, lost Senate 2022, then is running 2026 with the AG endorsement and a propaganda-network publication apparatus running unpaid earned-media for him. Same template, different geography.
The Pruett network as Worley’s campaign media operation
Greg Pruett operates Idaho Dispatch (friendly coverage of Worley) and Honor Idaho / Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (attack outlet against Worley’s primary opponent Guthrie). Disclosure of the overlap appears nowhere on either platform.
April 3, 2026 — six weeks before the May 19 Republican primary — Pruett personally bylines “One Man Continues to Block the Best Gun Bills for Idaho” on the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance / Honor Idaho platform, attacking Sen. Jim Guthrie. Specific language: “Without fail, Idaho State Senate Chairman Jim Guthrie (R - Inkom) has blocked more critical pro-gun legislation” and “Guthrie shoved it in the chairman’s drawer and refused to give it a public hearing.” The article enumerates SB 1430, HB 621, and SB 1298 (sponsored by Sen. Christy Zito, I2AA’s Political Director and Board Member) as Guthrie’s blocking record. The implicit call to action: “send some better fighters to the Capitol.”
Worley does not have to buy that media. It arrives as earned content because Pruett operates the friendly-coverage outlet, the attack outlet on Worley’s opponent, the candidate-grooming pipeline, and the propaganda-network amplification stack. The 2025 Liberty Counsel lawsuit dismissal — the framing of which placed Worley as a Christian-persecution credential figure — was amplified through Idaho Dispatch and through national conservative-media echo (CBN, Washington Stand, PJ Media, WND).
DOCUMENTED — APRIL 3, 2026 PRUETT-BYLINED ATTACK ON GUTHRIE
On April 3, 2026, Greg Pruett personally bylined 'One Man Continues to Block the Best Gun Bills for Idaho' on the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance / Honor Idaho platform, attacking Sen. Jim Guthrie. The article enumerates SB 1430, HB 621, and SB 1298 (sponsored by I2AA's Political Director Christy Zito) as evidence of Guthrie's blocking, with the implicit call to action 'send some better fighters to the Capitol.' Six weeks before the May 19, 2026 primary in which Worley challenges Guthrie. Disclosure of the overlap between the friendly-Worley publication (Idaho Dispatch) and the attack-Guthrie publication (I2AA / Honor Idaho), both Pruett-operated, appears nowhere on either platform.
The Labrador endorsement
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador formally endorsed Worley for Senate D28 on April 8, 2026. Coverage in Idaho Press, Idaho State Journal, East Idaho News, Local News 8, and Idaho Education News.
A sitting Idaho AG endorsing a primary challenger to a sitting Republican senator is not routine. Labrador picked this race deliberately. The endorsement places Worley inside the IFF-aligned faction of the Idaho Republican coalition.
DOCUMENTED — APRIL 8, 2026
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador formally endorsed David Worley for Idaho State Senate in District 28 on April 8, 2026. Coverage in Idaho Press, Idaho State Journal, East Idaho News, Local News 8, and Idaho Education News.
The funding chain behind the IFC bloc he would join
Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC backs the Idaho Freedom Caucus-aligned candidates Worley would caucus with in the Senate. Per Steve Taggart’s April 7, 2026 Political Potatoes investigation, CAI is 99.72% funded by the national Citizens Alliance PAC out of Fairfax, Virginia. The national PAC is over 72% funded by POM of Pennsylvania, LLC, a company that manufactures gaming machines marketed under a “skill” classification and is currently being sued by the Pennsylvania Attorney General for using that classification to circumvent state gambling laws.
Idaho banned similar machines in 2015.
Where he sits in the network
Worley is the network’s pick to flip District 28. The pieces in play:
- AG Raul Labrador’s prior congressional record aligns with the IFF policy stack. The endorsement is a faction signal.
- The Idaho Freedom Caucus, chaired by Sen. Scott Herndon, is the in-chamber Senate bloc Worley would join on day one.
- The State Freedom Caucus Network, run by Maria Nate (wife of IFF President Ron Nate), would whip his contested-bill votes.
- Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC is the disbursement arm. The 2022 Worley Senate cycle had six IFF-network funding streams documented.
- Doyle Beck personally gave $1,000 to the 2022 Worley campaign. Brent Regan personally gave $500-$750. Two IFF board members at the personal-giving level.
- Greg Pruett operates the propaganda-network publication apparatus running unpaid earned-media for Worley while attacking Guthrie. Pruett’s I2AA Political Director Christy Zito’s bills are cited in the April 3 anti-Guthrie attack as evidence Guthrie has blocked the IFC agenda.
- Ron Nate, IFF President, was personally alongside Worley at the February 11, 2023 Marshall Public Library drag-protest sit-in five months before Worley took command of his Army Guard battalion.
Connected pages
- Scott Herndon dossier, Senate IFC chair Worley would caucus with
- Greg Pruett dossier, the propaganda-network operator running unpaid earned-media for Worley
- Doyle Beck dossier, $1,000 personal donor to the 2022 Worley campaign
- Ron Nate dossier, IFF President, alongside Worley at the 2023 Marshall Library protest
- Christy Zito dossier, I2AA Political Director whose bills the Pruett-bylined Guthrie attack cited as evidence
- Idaho Freedom Caucus organization page
- Citizens Alliance organization page
- Cliff Maloney dossier
- The Propaganda Network organization page
- Anatomy of a Lie investigation
- Follow the Money investigation
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The Connections