Idaho Vote By Mail has called off its signature-gathering effort to get an initiative on the 2012 ballot giving Idahoans the option of permanently requesting an absentee ballot, saying it just hasn't been able to gather the required thousands of signatures using volunteers. "We needed…
Gov. Butch Otter and Democratic challenger Keith Allred sharply disagreed over recent cuts to dental programs for the poor; independent candidate Jana Kemp said Otter's "Project 60" isn't working and backed privatizing state liquor sales; Otter said tax exemptions were put in place for good…
The Idaho Republican Party finally got its chance Wednesday to make a case for scrapping the state's open primary, the AP reports, which they say allows Democratic voters to unfairly influence GOP politics and results at the ballot box. Click below for a full report…
Three candidates for governor will face off in a televised debate tonight on KTVB-TV in Boise, in partnership with KIFI-TV in Idaho Falls and KREM-TV in Spokane. The debate, featuring Gov. Butch Otter, Democratic challenger Keith Allred, and independent Jana Kemp, starts at 8 p.m.;…
Idaho's Fish & Game director, Cal Groen, and his hunting companions have been questioned regarding a reported trespassing incident in the Elk City area, the Fish & Game Department reports. Here's the department's press release:Idaho Fish and Game Director Cal Groen has notified the Fish…
More tickets have been released for tomorrow night's big debate in the 1st Congressional District race, the sole televised debate of the campaign. It starts at 8 p.m. Mountain time, 7 p.m. Pacific, at the Idaho Capitol Auditorium; free tickets are available here. In addition…
In a statement entitled "A Difficult Choice," former longtime Idaho GOP state schools Supt. Jerry Evans today has endorsed Keith Allred, the Democratic candidate, for governor over incumbent GOP Gov. Butch Otter. "It came as a disappointing surprise this year when Governor Otter recommended a…
Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa is in federal court today, defending the state's primary election system in a lawsuit from his own party, the Idaho Republican Party. The party sued to try to force the closure of its primary elections to anyone other than…
S-R columnist Shawn Vestal writes today that John McHone has a beef with Phil Hart. McHone thinks anyone who steals timber from public lands – as Hart did to build a log home in Athol – ought to pay the penalty. “I think the (good…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter today reported raising $752,000 in campaign funds in the past four months, while his Democratic challenger, Keith Allred, raised $372,500. With both candidates spending heavily on advertising as the campaign season hits its peak, Otter reported $211,634 in cash on hand…
"Americans should be working their way into the middle class, not falling out of it," Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Tom Sullivan said in his closing comments in tonight's debate. "To do that we have to tax fairly and cut wisely." Incumbent Sen. Mike Crapo…
Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Tom Sullivan was asked, given his struggles with big tax debt in his business, why voters should choose him to replace Sen. Mike Crapo, who holds a key finance committee position. "Because I have been the one who has been able…
In tonight's U.S. Senate debate, Sen. Mike Crapo and Democratic challenger Tom Sullivan already have clashed repeatedly over taxes. "I don't think the Republicans are in favor of tax cuts for anybody except the wealthiest people in this country," Sullivan declared. "The real tax cuts…
In their opening remarks, Tom Sullivan, who's running against Sen. Mike Crapo, said, "I am terrified about the size of our national debt. ... We need something different from what Mike Crapo has been delivering for the last 18 years in the United States Congress."…
It's time now for the debate in the U.S. Senate race, between Sen. Mike Crapo and his Democratic challenger, Tom Sullivan of Tetonia. Here's a bit about the two: Mike Crapo, 59 Republican BIO: Two terms in U.S. Senate, three in U.S. House; eight years…
Here's a look at the claims in GOP congressional hopeful Raul Labrador's new campaign commercial, his first of the campaign, which just began running in the Boise broadcast TV market today, and also is coming out on cable elsewhere. It seeks to cast freshman Democratic…
Democratic candidate for governor Keith Allred said today that he's against the proposed mega-loads of oil equipment proposed to travel along Idaho's narrow and scenic U.S. Highway 12 in north-central Idaho, for which current Gov. Butch Otter has been an enthusiastic proponent. "In an Allred…
GOP congressional hopeful Raul Labrador has launched his first TV ad of the campaign, which just started running in the Boise market. In it, he sharply criticizes incumbent Congressman Walt Minnick on immigration, economic stimulus and health care reform, and declares, "Minnick's hiding his liberal…
Here's a news item from the Associated Press: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — ConocoPhillips is asking the Idaho Supreme Court to quickly announce whether it will uphold or overturn a lower court's decision to halt the movement of four oversized loads of refinery equipment on Idaho…
Tonight will be a political junkie channel-changer's bonanza: The U.S. Senate debate airs live on Idaho Public Television at 8 p.m. Mountain time, 7 p.m. Pacific, with Sen. Mike Crapo debating his Democratic challenger Tom Sullivan; at the same time, KTVB-TV will air a debate…
Former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt has issued the following statement on the 1st Congressional District race: "Walt Minnick has made some courageous votes in Congress, usually reflecting the views of most Idahoans. Nevertheless, it is imperative that this nation reverse the headlong rush toward fiscal…
Here's video of Phil Hart being interviewed by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department back in 1996 about the theft of timber from Idaho state school endowment land. In the video, obtained under the Idaho Public Records Law, Hart, now a three-term Idaho state representative, tells…
The deadline to turn in the latest campaign finance reports, showing campaign activity from June 5 through September, was Oct. 10, but that was a Sunday. Then the next day, today, is Columbus Day, a state holiday. So the candidates have an extra two days…
The Idaho Republican Party today launched a big round of robo-calls in the 1st Congressional District featuring a recorded message from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich asking voters to send Republican Raul Labrador to Congress to help build a GOP majority there. "I'd rather not…
GOP congressional hopeful Raul Labrador has won the endorsement of the American Conservative Union PAC, whose director, Larry Hart, called Labrador "the clear conservative choice for Idaho's First District," and lauded his record in the Idaho Legislature. You can read Labrador's full announcement here.Meanwhile, incumbent…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
