Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how Democratic congressional candidate Jimmy Farris says he's learned a lesson, after he didn't actively campaign during his primary race and ended up with only a five percentage point lead over a mentally ill candidate who's facing felony charges. Farris lost to Cynthia Clinkingbeard in four of the five northernmost counties, plus two others. Jim Weatherby, Boise State University emeritus professor of public policy, said, “Apparently a considerable amount of the voters didn't know either candidate,” and just picked a name. “There is something to be said for a positive campaign where you're introducing yourself to the voters, and apparently he didn't do that either.”

Weatherby said it was unlikely that Republicans sought to make mischief in the Democratic primary by voting for Clinkingbeard over Farris. “There was too much action in the Republican primaries,” he said. Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant said, “I would just caution anyone from trying to draw any conclusions from the numbers, because it doesn't actually make sense.” He noted that Democratic turnout was low, and Democrats allowed independents, third-party members and even Republicans to vote in their primary, while Republicans closed theirs to all but registered Republicans. “Once we get the data, we'll be able to tell who voted in which primary, and that will give us the answer,” Grant said.
  

Idaho Democratic 1st District congressional candidate Jimmy Farris, whose 53%-47% win over Cynthia Clinkingbeard in the primary was something of a stunner, given that Farris was the party's anointed choice and Clinkingbeard didn't campaign, after an arrest for pulling a gun on employees at a Staples store, had these thoughts when asked today when asked about the unexpectedly close margin:

“I think, ultimately, for me, I learned a lesson: You can't take anything for granted,” Farris said. “We made a conscious decision not to campaign against her. I didn't want to highlight any of the issues that she was having or anything that was happening with her. We chose not to debate or do anything that would really put her situation kind of in the public or highlight it more than it already was. So I think … it was a mistake on our part, not to really actively campaign as if there was a primary. I chose to try to protect her privacy as much as possible.” Clinkingbeard, a former physician, suffers from mental illness.

Farris is a first-time candidate who's a former NFL football player and a native of Lewiston. He said he didn't do “any real campaigning in the northern part of the state especially” during the primary campaign. Clinkingbeard won four of the five northernmost counties in the Idaho Panhandle: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai. She also edged Farris in Canyon and Payette counties.

Farris said he's heard speculation about crossover voting and other factors, but doesn't want to weigh in on that without more analysis. “Lesson learned, chalk it up,” he said. “I've always been better in the second half anyways, so, made some halftime adjustments, we're moving forward focusing on Congressman Labrador.”

Gov. Butch Otter told the Associated Press today that he expects GOP leaders at their state party convention in June to debate the merits of the party's new closed primary election, after Tuesday's record-low turnout. “It will be, 'What should we do? Should we make any changes?' ” Otter told AP reporter John Miller; click below for Miller's full report. Otter was among those who opposed closing the primary, but the Idaho Republican Party sued the state and won, overturning the previous open primary system. Then, the party opted to close its primary vote to anyone other than registered Republicans.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant has issued a post-primary election statement calling on Idahoans to vote Democratic in November. “In many Republican races, voters saw a choice between someone they were angry with versus someone they were scared of,” Grant said. “Republicans who prevailed, by and large, are the same people who cut education funding and who have treated state government like it is their own private club.” You can read his full statement here.
  

Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko has sent out a post-primary message, pleading for Republicans to come together after yesterday's bitterly divisive primary election. “2012 brings a great opportunity for Idaho Republicans - we must not, and we will not squander it,” Semanko writers. Of the primary he said, “Some would argue that this competition damaged the Party; I argue the opposite. I believe that the enthusiasm and energy we witnessed speaks to the strength of the Idaho Republican Party.” Click below for his full message.

At the Idaho Republican Party's election-night watch party at the Riverside Hotel tonight, party Chairman Norm Semanko led off by introducing Gov. Butch Otter. There are very few election results in yet; just a smattering of numbers from a few counties. Otter talked about the race for the White House and California's problems - repeating his earlier comment that “if California were my horse, I'd shoot it, it is so sick,” and forgot to introduce his wife, Lori. He also made no mention of the unprecedented divisiveness in the Idaho GOP this primary election season, saying only, “Let's bring this party together and go into November with victory on our minds and victory as our banner.”

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna gave a campaign pitch for his “Students Come First” school reform laws, which are up for a referendum vote in November. “We know what's best for our children, and when we go to the polls in November we are going to vote yes … to keep these laws,” he told the GOP crowd.

Semanko said as party members await the results, “We want you to talk about what you're going to do this November to make sure all of our candidates win.” And GOP Congressman Raul Labrador told the crowd, “We have the choice of supporting the candidates that win (the GOP primary), or we have the choice of shutting the heck up.”

Good grief. It turns out that it's not only up north that one warring GOP faction has tried to hijack another one's name (see this post from last week). It's happening in Twin Falls, too. Check out this press release from Twin Falls Republican Central Committee Chair Gretchen Clelland:

PRESS RELEASE

DATE: May, 14, 2012

FROM: Gretchen Clelland, Twin Falls County Republican Central Committee

TO: All Media

MISLEADING ADVERTISING CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

In the last several days leading up to the GOP Primary election material falsely claiming to represent the Twin Falls Republican Party has been distributed.

This is particularly true in the Castleford Precinct where incumbent Republican Precinct Committeeman Terry Kramer is being opposed by Rick Martin. Martin has distributed literature against Kramer which says “Paid for by Republican Central Committee of Twin Falls County, Inc.”

This deception should in NO WAY lead anyone to believe that the Twin Falls Republican Party, or ANY official Republican organization IN ANY WAY supports Rick Martin or his tactics. Whatever the “Republican Central Committee of Twin Falls County, Inc.” is, it is absolutely NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ANY WAY.

In messages ahead of tomorrow's first-ever closed Republican Party primary in Idaho - and the Democratic primary, which remains open to everyone - the chairmen of Idaho's Democratic and Republican parties have issued statements. Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko defends the closed primary, declaring, “We will have the right to select candidates who represent our values without interference from other parties or special interest groups for the first time in nearly 40 years.” You can read his full statement here.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant, meanwhile, is urging against calls for Democrats and independents to register as Republicans and vote in the GOP primary. “If Republicans want to fight it out for control of the Republican Party, then so be it.,” writes Grant. “I have no reason to try to fix that. If they throw all the moderates out of their party, then I welcome them into mine.” Click below for Grant's full statement.

Ron Paul's national campaign is disavowing efforts by Idaho supporters to use little-noticed precinct committee races as part of a strategy to overturn the results of Idaho's presidential caucus, which Mitt Romney won with 62 percent support. “In Idaho, isolated instances of grassroots activists working toward an ostensible 'hostile takeover' of the GOP are not sanctioned by the Ron Paul national campaign,” national campaign manager John Tate said in a statement. You can read his full statement here; Paul placed third in Idaho's GOP caucus, behind Rick Santorum.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― Top House Republicans Lawerence Denney and Mike Moyle are trying to oust their own Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts from the Legislature by directing thousands to a political action committee that supports Roberts' opponent in Tuesday's primary. GUNPAC, a pro-2nd Amendment PAC, endorsed Roberts' District 8 foe, John Blattler. Denney, the House speaker, gave GUNPAC $10,000 via a House GOP leadership political action committee he controls. Moyle, the majority leader, chipped in another $5,000. Moyle said Tuesday that Roberts opposes him in leadership, so he's trying to get him ousted. Roberts, who is listed as treasurer of the GOP leadership PAC that Denney is using to unseat him, says he's disappointed, adding he thought House PAC money was to help incumbents in general elections, not knock them off in primaries. Click below for a full report from AP reporter John Miller.

Former Idaho Congressman Bill Sali, famous for introducing legislation in the U.S. House to suspend the law of gravity in a bid to highlight his opposition to the minimum wage, will pitch for tax-protesting Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, at a $25-a-head fundraiser in Coeur d'Alene this week, as Hart heads into a hard-fought four-way GOP primary next Tuesday in his bid for a fifth term in the Idaho House. The fundraiser, according to an ad placed on the Coeur d'Alene Press website by Hart's campaign and shown here, also will benefit GOP House candidate Ron Mendive of Coeur d'Alene, who faces fellow Republican Jeff Tyler of Post Falls on Tuesday for the open House seat formerly held by Bob Nonini.

Tyler is a founder of the Reagan Republicans and Pachyderm Club GOP groups, while Mendive is allied with the United Conservatives of North Idaho group, in an increasingly testy divide in Kootenai County's Republican party. That split has become so nasty that one side is attempting to hijack the other's name, Reagan Republicans, by filing legal documents, a move the RR's dubbed “identity theft.” There's more info on that here and here.

Sali is no stranger to intra-party controversy himself. In 2006, then-GOP House Speaker Bruce Newcomb called Sali an “absolute idiot,” and earlier, when now-Congressman Mike Simpson was speaker of the House and Sali was a member, Simpson threatened to throw Sali out of his 3rd-floor speaker's office window; Sali reported the threat to the House sergeant-at-arms. Sali served 16 years in the Idaho House and one term in the U.S. House before losing to a Democrat, Walt Minnick. This year, he hinted he might run for the state House again, but never filed.

Much is at stake in Idaho's May 15 primary election, from hotly contested county races to every seat in the Legislature, in a state where many of those races will be decided in the Republican primary.

But this year, for the first time ever, no one can vote in the GOP primary unless they register as a Republican – and more than a third of Idaho's voters identify themselves as independents. Add that to primaries that draw very low turnouts that have been dropping for years, redistricting that's added to voter confusion by shifting many into different districts with unfamiliar candidates, and the lack of a presidential primary, since both state parties already handled that with caucuses. “You could have a weak fringe candidate win in a primary like that,” said Jim Weatherby, Boise State University emeritus professor of public policy and longtime Idaho political observer.

Efforts are under way to inform voters and encourage greater turnout, including state-funded billboards, ads and posters, and extra poll-worker training. But if few heed that call, political convulsions could result, potentially sealing the fate of longtime lawmakers or giving an avowed white supremacist a shot at becoming the elected sheriff of Bonner County. You can read my full story here from Sunday's Spokesman-Review.

Ron Paul backers have a plan to use state Republican Party rules to overturn the results of this spring's Idaho GOP presidential caucus, reports Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey, and hand Idaho's presidential delegates to Paul instead of Mitt Romney, who won all of them after securing 62 percent support in the caucuses; Paul came in third, behind Rick Santorum. The plan revolves around winning little-noticed precinct committee races across Idaho in the May 15 primary; you can read Popkey's full report here (but first you'll have to wait through a loud advertising video). The Paul camp's machinations have prompted former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt to send out 20,000 postcards to Ada County Republicans, urging them to support precinct committee candidates who will up hold the caucus result and offering his list of endorsees.
  

The Idaho Statesman's Dan Popkey reports today that House Transportation Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, is embroiled in a fight with the city after he and his wife sold their home and took up residence in a converted office area at the back of their consignment store, a city zoning violation. Palmer says the city is after him, and said of Meridian Mayor Mayor Tammy de Weerd, “She despises the ground I walk on.” You can click below for the AP version of Popkey's report; you can read his original report here, but beware if you're somewhere where you don't want your computer to suddenly start playing a loud video: the Statesman website may first make you listen to a noisy video advertisement.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, who's running for the Idaho Senate, has made a last-minute $1,000 campaign donation through his PAC to the primary election challenger of the sitting chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. That's a form of  political heresy in the Senate that Nonini hopes to join, where past attempts to back challengers to fellow GOP incumbents have brought major sanctions from the Republican caucus. “It's not particularly good form,” Cameron said.

Nonini's Idaho Association for Good Government PAC made the contribution Wednesday to the campaign of Douglas Pickett of Oakley, who is running against Cameron, an 11th-term senator and co-chairman of the Legislature's most powerful committee, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Nonini, a fourth-term House member who's making a bid to jump over to the Senate this year, couldn't immediately be reached for comment; his contribution surfaced in the campaign finance reports that are now required to be filed within 48 hours of any last-minute contribution of $1,000 or more. That filing requirement took effect on Monday. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Now that the Idaho Republican Party is requiring candidates to pledge their support to the state party's platform or outline where they disagree, the candidate surveys are taking on new significance as primary elections approach, reports AP reporter John Miller, and they've divided the state's dominant political party. Jonathan Parker, executive director of the state GOP, told Miller the review “gives people the opportunity to find out where the candidates stand.” But critics such as Priest Lake Republican Rep. Eric Anderson say it's an unnecessary “purity test.” “It's silly,” Anderson said. He added, “There's always going to be things in life you disagree with.”

The platform includes planks such as calling for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, which let voters, rather than state legislatures, elect U.S. senators; returning to the gold standard; abolishing the state's redistricting commission and handing that task back to the state Legislature; and calling for state nullification of federal laws. Click below for Miller's full report.

Former Idaho Sen. Mike Jorgenson, who's running again for the Senate seat he lost two years ago to an ally of tax-protesting Rep. Phil Hart, has signed and sent to all District 2 GOP candidates a “Republican Principle Pledge” pledging to “obey the law, honor Idaho courts and pay my taxes.” “I hope they all sign it,” said Jorgenson, a Republican from Hayden Lake, who said he was prompted by Hart's continuing tax and legal fights. “Quite frankly, people are so disillusioned with the antics of Phil Hart and the embarrassment that it's caused the county, the state, the party, that I thought it a good thing to make it a commitment to the constituents that the candidates would not have any part of that behavior.”
 
The pledge, in full, says the candidate promises “to the citizens of Kootenai County to be honest, have integrity, obey the law, honor Idaho courts and pay my taxes.” Fritz Wiedenhoff of Rathdrum, who's among three Republicans challenging Hart in the May 15 primary, said, “I think it's great, I think it's fantastic. I think it encompasses everything we are and we should be, and I'm planning on signing it.” Ed Morse, also a Hart GOP challenger, said he, too, plans to sign the pledge. “I think it may highlight some differences between some of the candidates,” he said. “I pay my taxes, I believe that all public office holders should not only perform lawfully but they should uphold the public trust.” You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.
  

Tax-protesting state Rep. Phil Hart may be the most controversial lawmaker in North Idaho, and his re-election bid for a fifth term in the state House has drawn a bevy of challengers in the May 15 GOP primary. It’s a far cry from the last election, in which Hart was unopposed both in the primary and on the general election ballot. But an unprecedented 20 percent of the vote went to a write-in challenger in the general election in 2010, after news broke about Hart’s court fights over back taxes and a 1996 timber theft case. He subsequently lost his seat on the House tax committee and gave up a vice chairmanship on the Transportation Committee to avoid House ethics sanctions.

Hart said this year’s campaign is keeping him busy. “I think there’s a lot more interest this year, just because people are paying more attention to politics,” said Hart; you can read my full profile of the race here at spokesman.com. Hart's primary opponents include Ron Vieselmeyer, 71, an outspoken Christian conservative, ordained minister, former state lawmaker and current North Idaho College trustee; longtime Hayden real estate appraiser Ed Morse; and local firefighter Fritz Wiedenhoff. The winner of the four-way race will face Democrat Dan English in November.

Vieselmeyer said issues aren’t as much at stake in this year’s race as people. “It’s either somebody else wins and represents them, or they continue to have Phil Hart representing them,” he said. “And that’s been an uncomfortable situation for a lot of people.”

The district’s other two legislative seats are both held by close allies of Hart whom he recruited to run two years ago, Sen. Steve Vick and Rep. Vito Barbieri, both of Dalton Gardens. Both Vick and Barbieri face challenges in the Republican primary this year as well, and Democratic challengers are standing by to run against the GOP primary winners in November. That’s an anomaly for this district – no Democrat has even run for the Legislature from the district since 2002. Former Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, whom Vick defeated in the primary two years ago to win the seat, is running against Vick; and businessman Mark Fisher is challenging Barbieri.

Fisher echoed Hart about the interest he’s seeing locally in this year’s legislative primary election, which historically has drawn low turnout and little interest. “There’s a whole lot of politics going on up here,” he said.
I also have profiles of the contested primary races in District 3 and District 4 in today's paper.

The upcoming May primary election will be Idaho's first under the state's new closed-primary and party registration law, and the new rules are causing lots of confusion. Idaho Statesman reporter Cynthia Sewell has a nice how-to article about it here. The upshot: To vote in the primary, you have to register your affiliation with a party – Constitution, Democratic, Libertarian or Republican – or choose unaffiliated. Only those who register as Republicans can vote in the GOP primary. Anyone can vote in the Democratic primary – except those who vote in the Republican primary, because you can only vote in one or the other - and anyone can vote on the nonpartisan offices, which in May are just unopposed judicial races. Whatever choices you make, they'll be public record.

1st District congressional candidate Cynthia Clinkingbeard, who filed to run in the Democratic primary but then was arrested for aggravated assault on March 16 after pulling a gun on employees at a Staples store, has termed her legal case “a fly in the ointment” to her campaign, reports Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey. He reports that Clinkingbeard, in an email, offered this update on her congressional campaign: “I just got out of the hospital a couple days ago and have not quite caught up with everything yet. My media guy took off for Afghanistan so I am having to start over and gear back up. My legal case is a bit of a fly in the ointment, but I am hoping that will be closer to resolution soon.”

A court-ordered mental health evaluation for the former physician is scheduled for May 4; she is running against former pro football player and Lewiston native Jimmy Farris for a shot a challenging GOP 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador in November. You can read Popkey's full post here.