The House State Affairs Committee has voted - with just two "no" votes from Reps. Tom Loertscher and Joe Palmer - to kill HB 392, the bill to move Idaho's primary election back to August. "I don't have any illusions about the outcome of this vote today, I can tell you that," Loertscher, the bill's sponsor, told the committee that he chairs. He noted that he scheduled the hearing when county clerks were in town for their winter convention and could come testify without any additional expense. "This has been a healthy discussion, and I appreciate the time that the committee has taken," he said.

Rep. Elfreda Higgins, D-Garden City, made the motion to kill the bill. "I'm not running for re-election so I really have no personal stake in this bill at all," she said. "I do not see any benefit to voters, and those are the people whom we serve."