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Idaho’s elections last week were all officially non-partisan city races, but there’s growing debate in the state about what role - if any - political parties should play in those contests. In Idaho Falls, where the county GOP central committee endorsed a candidate in the city council election, the move backfired, said county GOP Chairman Damond Watkins. “Ultimately, I believe it hurt the brand of the Republican name - well, we lost, we lost hard, and we’ve divided our base,” he said. Boise State University political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby said he sees a “disturbing trend” toward more partisanship in city elections not only in Idaho, but across the country. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
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Gary Ingram on November 08 at 1:06 p.m.
Jim Weatherby is probably right about there being no Democrat or Republican way to fix the streets. And if that's all they did there would be no interest in making municipal elections partisan. But Jim knows very well that there is a Republican or Democrat way to address issues that relate to finances, state and federal grants, social priorities, job creation and more. And the cities do a lot of that.
Gary Ingram
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IdahoRed on November 15 at 12:28 a.m.
Finances and grants make it a partisan matter as money always comes with strings attached. Conservatives and liberals view those strings in different light. Liberties are signed away as the city level just as much as they are at the county, state or national level. We must protect our liberties at all levels starting with the most basic.
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