House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, is pitching his bill to move the primary election back from May to August, HB 392, to the House State Affairs Committee this morning. Loertscher said, "This is my idea, this is one that I've had for a long time, one that I have wanted to do since in fact the primary was moved to May." He said he was serving as a county commissioner then, and succeeded in his first election though "at that time in my life I was running two farms, doing a tremendous amount of work, and still found time in that busy schedule to run for office and I was successful in doing that. It was a tough summer, but it was something that at the time I was very passionate about and had a lot of help from people. And that's probably one of the keys to  election ... is what kind of help you can get. ... Six years later when I ran for re-election as a county commissioner, I couldn't get anybody to help. That was in a May primary."

Loertscher said he then had to serve as a lame duck from May clear through to January, knowing he'd lost. "I can tell you it's no fun and it's a difficult thing to do," Loertscher said, saying he was the target of "personal attacks" during that time.

Loertscher said Idahoans traditionally just don't turn out for primary elections, so he doesn't think the change would further depress turnout. "Historically turnouts for primary elections in Idaho are dismal," he said. The move to August would shorten the general-election campaign season, he said. Plus, he said the change would free lawmakers from having to worry about campaigning during the legislative session when they should be focusing on the session. "People I talk to in the community are sick and tired of politics going on forever and ever."

Lots of people are in the hearing room to testify against the bill, including county clerks; Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, responding to a technical question about the bill, noted that he doesn't support it. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter already has said he opposes it.