The first question to Lawerence Denney and Holli Woodings, the candidates for Idaho Secretary of State, as they debate today at the City Club of Boise, was about how they reconcile being partisan politicians with the nature of the office, which oversees elections.

Denney said his record “was not as partisan as some might believe that it was.” He noted that when he was ousted as speaker, the minority leader was the first to rise on the floor of the House and acknowledge him for his service. “I think I had a good relationship with the minority party … and I think certainly as Secretary of State there is no room for partisanship and there really are very, very few places where you can have partisanship in the Secretary of State’s office.”

Woodings said, “There is no room for partisanship in the office. We have the responsibility to make sure that everyone is held to the same level of accountability, whether we’re friends with them or not friends with them.” She said, “My opponent speaks to the fact that he was ousted by his caucus as a speaker … because he showed a lot of partisanship. That is my understanding in talking to my colleagues in the Legislature, that that was the reason why that happened. .. I think we both have history and I think that my history shows … working across the aisle.”