Nez Perce Co no longer blue
In a column today, William L Spence of the Lewiston Tribune comments:
When 105 Idaho lawmakers take the oath of office in Boise today, it will mark the first time since 2002 that Nez Perce County hasn't had at least one Democrat representing it in the Legislature.
That doesn't seem like very long, but it's actually just the third Republican sweep in the past 90 years.
House Minority Leader John Rusche served 12 years in the Statehouse before losing to businessman Mike Kingsley in the November election. He was the latest in a long line of Lewiston Democrats to represent Nez Perce County, joining the likes of Bruce Sweeney and Mike Mitchell.
Sweeney served two terms in the Idaho House in the 1970s, followed by eight terms in the Senate, from 1983 to 1998. Mitchell, who also served as chief of staff for Gov. Cecil Andrus, had a legislative career that spanned five decades; he first served in the House from 1969 to '70, then moved to the Senate from 1971 to '82, before returning to the House for two more terms from 2003 to '06.
Between the three of them, Mitchell, Rusche and Sweeney gave Nez Perce County a strong Democratic voice in Boise in all but four of the past 48 years. More here.
