It could make a difference in a state like Idaho.

It's an open election. Republican Governor Butch Otter isn't running for another term, but she'll be primaried with another Democrat who's tried to run before: From the Idaho Spokesman-Review: http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2017/dec/07/rep-paulette-jordan-announces-shell-run-governor-democrat/

"Furthermore, Jordan will face a competitive opponent in the Democratic primary against Boise businessman A.J. Balukoff, who announced earlier this year he is once again running for the top elected statewide seat.

Balukoff, 71, lost to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter in 2014 despite spending nearly $3 million of his own funds and securing just 39 percent of the vote. Otter has since said he won't run for a fourth term."

There are three Republicans running for Idaho governor:

Brad Little is the current light governor.
Tommy Ahlquist is an MD who became a commercial real estate developer.
Raul Labrador is the congressman for the western side of the state.

Brad Little is widely considered the "governor in waiting" which, in Idaho, is probably why he WON'T make the general. If he does, he will be elected.

Ahlquist is running a Redoubter-friendly campaign. His major campaign plank is a pledge to cut $100 million in "wasteful" government spending out of Idaho's notoriously thin budget. We tried that during the recession and it immediately led to increased property tax bills - because they took a lot of money out of education, and municipalities had to run supplemental levies to get it back. If Ahlquist is on the general election ballot, Paulette Jordan's road to success revolves around attacking that spending-cut plan. I give her a 50-50 chance of getting it done.

There's a reason Labrador is running for governor: everyone in ID-1 has had enough of his shit. If he's on the general election ballot, he'll be easy to beat.