Make that a six-way race for Idaho high court seat…
It took a while for the final list to be posted, but there are now a full half-dozen candidates running for the Idaho Supreme Court seat that will open next year when Chief Justice Jim Jones retires. The final addition to the list: Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez.
Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, withdrew his filing to run for re-election in favor of jumping into the Idaho Supreme Court race. There, he’s joined by Deputy Attorney General Clive Strong; Boise attorney Breck Seiniger; Rupert Attorney Robyn Brody; and attorney Christ Troupis, who unsuccessfully challenged Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the 2014 GOP primary.
Other late-filings news: Boise businessman Jerry Sturgill filed to run as a Democrat against U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo; he’s a managing director at Headwaters MB, an investment-banking firm, and previously was a corporate law partner at Latham & Watkins and Stoel Rives LLP.
Six candidates are running for the 1st District congressional seat, including incumbent Republican Raul Labrador; Democratic challenger James Piotrowski; two other hopefuls who live in Idaho and two more who live in California.
Can they do that? The answer is yes. To run for Congress in Idaho, a candidate simply has to be an Idaho resident by the day of the general election. So Democrat Shizandra Fox of Glen Ellen, Calif., and Republican Isaac Haugen of Santa Rosa, Calif., can run, as can Democrat Staniela Nikolova of Moscow and Republican Gordon Counsil of Caldwell.
Two Constitution Party candidates, Roy Writz and “Pro-Life,” who formerly was known as Marvin Richardson until his legal name-change, also have filed for a chance to run against Crapo. And in the 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Mike Simpson faces challenges from Republican Lisa Marie of Boise, Democrat Jennifer Martinez of Boise, and Constitution Party candidate Anthony Tomkins of Twin Falls.
And among legislative filings: He waited until the very last minute, but Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain home, did file to run for an 8th term; he's got two GOP challengers, Megan Blanksma of Hammett and Justin Freeman of Marsing. You can see the full list online here.
