M 2011 Idaho General Election

BOISE – A St. Maries legislator raised fears about a “nanny state” when the Idaho House considered legislation this week to ban the sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes to children, but the measure ended up passing unanimously. State Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, cast the only “no” vote on HB 405, but then, at the last minute, changed his vote to “yes.” Read more

BOISE – Sen. Jim Hammond won’t seek a fourth term in the Idaho state Senate and instead will apply for the upcoming opening for president at North Idaho College, along with looking at other options that will keep him closer to home and family. “I never intended to set a record here,” Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, said Thursday. “It’s an opportunity for someone else.” Read more

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, says he decided that he'll run for the Senate next year because the new redistricting plan left his new district with three House incumbents and an open Senate seat. “There's three of us in the same district now, and we all three talked about it and who would be best to do what and what everybody's desires were,” Hagedorn said. … Read more

Twin Falls county commissioners have announced that they've decided not to file any further challenge to Idaho's new legislative redistricting plan, though they're not entirely happy with it. The county led an earlier challenge to the Idaho Supreme Court that overturned the previous plan submitted by the state's citizen redistricting commission. County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said, “It’s not a good plan, but it’s an acceptable one. … Read more

Four GOP presidential candidates have filed for Idaho's March 6 Republican presidential caucus, the Idaho Republican Party reports: Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. The party today issued a “final call” for others who want to participate, with Chairman Norm Semanko saying, “We welcome all Republican presidential candidates who are seriously campaigning to secure the Republican Party’s nomination in 2012 to visit our great state, to discuss issues important to Idahoans, and to campaign for Idaho’s 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention.” Click below for the Idaho GOP's full announcement. Read more

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is recruiting candidates to replace Norm Semanko as Idaho's GOP party chairman, reports Idaho Statesman reporter Dan Popkey; Semanko defeated Otter's favored candidate, then-Chairman Kirk Sullivan, in 2008. “I was roundly criticized by all you guys that I couldn't control my own party and I was probablythe only governor in the United States that didn't have his choice as party chairman,” Otter told Popkey. … Read more

Idaho's bipartisan citizen redistricting commission has submitted its new legislative district plan, approved on a unanimous 6-0 vote, to Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. Ysursa, joining the confab by phone from a meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State, told the commissioners, “I sure want to thank you for all the work you've done.” He quoted Commissioner Sheila Olsen about a “triumph of civility,” and said in his view, that's what occurred in the commission. … Read more

BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter told the Idaho Press Club last week that he’s all but given up on establishing a state-run health insurance exchange, unless the federal government gives Idaho more time. “Quite frankly, the clock is running – I don’t know that we’ve got time to put together a state exchange,” Otter said. The state needs “at a minimum a year,” he said, but “January of 2013 is our drop-dead date of getting acceptance of a state-based exchange design.” Read more

BOISE – After just two days of deliberations, Idaho’s citizen redistricting commission adopted a new legislative district plan late Friday – one that doesn’t land North Idaho Sens. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, in the same district. The earlier plan, which was overturned by the Idaho Supreme Court for dividing too many counties between districts, would have forced the two to face off if they both wanted to remain in office. Broadsword announced earlier that she’d retire from the Senate rather than seek a fifth term next year by running against Keough, a close ally and eight-term senator. Read more

Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, says she's weighing her options, now that the new legislative redistricting plan shifts her into a different district, where she wouldn't have to face ally Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, if she ran for another term. “I haven't had a chance to look at what the size of the district is or what itlooks like,” Broadsword said. … Read more

After just two days of deliberations, Idaho’s citizen redistricting commission has adopted a new legislative district plan - and this one doesn’t land North Idaho Sens. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, in the same district. Read more

Under the new legislative district plan adopted on a unanimous vote today by Idaho's redistricting commission, there are some notable matchups created between incumbents, including some that already would have happened under the previous plan, and some changes. Among the new contests: Senior Sens. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, and Denton Darrington, R-Declo, both landed in the new District 27, which means they'd have to run against each other if both wanted to remain in the Senate. … Read more

Sens. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, and Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, are no longer in the same district in the new legislative redistricting plan, Plan. L-93. Keough lands in the new District 1, but Broadsword ends up in the new District 7, along with Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood. Broadsword had earlier said she'd retire from the Senate rather than seek a fifth term next year by running against Keough, a close ally and eight-term senator. … Read more

Idaho's bipartisan citizen redistricting commission has agreed on a new legislative plan, dubbed L-93; it's now up online on the commission's website. The six-member commission voted unanimously in favor of the new plan. “What we did was we revised L-87 at the direction of the Supreme Court,” said commission Co-Chair Ron Beitelspacher. He said, “Unfortunately, in my opinion, but at the direction of the Supreme Court, we combined a small part of Bonner County with Shoshone County.” A chunk of southeastern Bonner County, with the dividing line running along Highway 95 and then turning east at Pend Oreille Lake, joins Shoshone County and points south in the new District 7. … Read more

Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko has sent out a guest opinion defending his attempt to try to fire GOP redistricting commissioner Randy Hansen, touting the party's Idaho electoral successes and announcing that he won't seek another term as party chairman. Semanko wrote that the “secret to our success” was that “the grassroots of our Party was motivated and energized to recruit candidates and support them because they were included, and we weren't shy about standing up for our core, conservative Republican principles.” He wrote, “As I conclude my four year tenure as Chairman and hand the reins over to someone else at the Republican State Convention in Twin Falls this summer, this will be my proudest accomplishment.” Click below to read his full guest opinion. Read more

Idaho's redistricting commission has convened again this afternoon after a lunch break, and plans to meet in open session all afternoon and work on its legislative district plan. “You will know exactly what we do,” said Co-Chair Dolores Crow. The bipartisan commission has a working copy of its plan that's basically the previous plan, L-87, with revisions to it to try to limit it to no more than seven county splits, including splitting Ada and Kootenai counties internally only. … Read more

Idaho's six citizen redistricting commissioners have been working straight through since 9 this morning, either in small working groups or as a full commission; they worked through lunch, while reviewing all seven of the plans that already have been submitted to the commission that have the minimum number of county splits - five. (The waythe Idaho Supreme Court counted it, it's seven - five with external splits, and two, Ada and Kootenai, that must have internal splits due to their population, without any district lines crossing their borders.) The five that mathematically must be split are Bonner, Canyon, Twin, Bonneville and Bannock. … Read more

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa told Idaho's citizen redistricting commission as it reconvened this morning, “This commission has a solemn duty to redistrict the state of Idaho, and I wish you well in your deliberations and will support you 100 percent.” Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane told the commission, “Based on what the Supreme Court has said, one-person, one-vote still has to be at the top of the list. … Read more

The Idaho Republican Party has released this statement this morning from House Speaker Lawerence Denney and state party Chairman Norm Semanko: “Unfortunately, the Idaho Supreme Court was unable to reach the merits of the case yesterday, opting instead to dismiss it on procedural grounds. As a result, the Court did not decide whether the Redistricting Commissioners can, in fact, be replaced. … Read more

Idaho's bipartisan citizen redistricting commission meets at 9 this morning in room C110 of the Capitol; thanks to Idaho Public Television, you can listen live here. According to its agenda, from 9:05 to 10:30, it'll hear from Brian Kane of the Idaho Attorney General's office and discuss recent Supreme Court action. … Read more

BOISE – The Idaho Supreme Court stepped in Wednesday and halted two top GOP leaders’ power play over redistricting that was threatening to delay the state’s primary election. The court ruled that House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko didn’t make their case to get the court to order Secretary of State Ben Ysursa to declare two vacancies on the state’s citizen redistricting commission and allow them to appoint new commissioners. Read more

Here's a link to our full story at spokesman.com on today's drama over redistricting, with the timing of the state's primary election hanging in the balance and the fracas dividing Idaho's supermajority Republican Party. The Idaho Supreme Court stepped in today, halting a move by House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko to fire the two GOP redistricting commissioners they'd earlier appointed and replace them with new ones. … Read more

The Idaho Supreme Court stepped in Wednesday and halted a power play over redistricting by two top GOP leaders that was threatening to delay the state’s primary election. Read more

The first-floor rotunda of the State house was packed just now for a reception honoring longtime University of Idaho chief lobbyist Marty Peterson upon his retirement; the talk of the crowd as it milled around, amid congratulations to Peterson, was this afternoon's Idaho Supreme Court decision tossing the redistricting petition from HouseSpeaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko. … Read more

The Idaho Supreme Court has issued an order denying the petition from House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko asking the court to order Secretary of State Ben Ysursa to declare two vacancies on the state's citizen redistricting commission; you can read the order here. … Read more

Former Idaho Gov. Phil Batt, who also is a former Idaho state GOP chairman and widely considered the architect of the party's dominance in the state, has submitted a guest opinion to the Idaho Statesman newspaper decrying the moves by current party Chairman Norm Semanko and House Speaker Lawerence Denney to fire two GOP redistricting commissioners, reports Idaho Statesman editorialist Kevin Richert. … Read more

About half an hour ago, House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Idaho GOP Chairman Norm Semanko filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the Idaho Supreme Court, calling on the court to “immediately” order Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa to declare two vacancies on the Idaho citizens redistricting commission, and then recognize their new appointees for those spots; the two said they'd asked Ysursa to declare such vacancies but he'd refused, citing the legal advice of the Idaho Attorney General, who provided him with a legal opinion saying commissioners can't be removed. … Read more

The Idaho Republican Party says its chairman, Norm Semanko, and House Speaker Lawerence Denney have made their choices for two new redistricting commissioners: Denney's chosen former state lawmaker Bob Forrey of Nampa, and Semanko has chosen Angela Cross of Post Falls. The party also said it's “filed the necessary documents withthe Idaho Supreme Court today to ensure that their new commission appointments are recognized and seated when the commission reconvenes;” click below for the Idaho GOP's full statement. … Read more

Idaho’s dominant Republican Party on Monday deepened an intense internal fight, with the state GOP chairman and House speaker announcing they’d fired two of their own redistricting commissioners, at least in part because they hadn’t helped the party enough. Read more

Idaho's dominant Republican Party on Monday deepened an intense internal fight, the AP reports, with the state GOP chairman and House speaker announcing they'd fired two of their own redistricting commissioners, at least in part because they hadn't helped the party enough. Meanwhile, the two commissioners have refused to go without a fight — and the Republican attorney general agrees they can't be ousted against their will. … Read more

The “Idaho Federation of Reagan Republicans,” an expanded version of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans group that's intending to go statewide, announced today that it plans to submit its own proposed initiative to privatize liquor sales in Idaho, separate from an effort that's been in the works by the Northwest Grocery Association, who've been exploring an initiative of their own; they're the group that sponsored the successful measure to privatize liquor sales in the state of Washington. Jeff Ward, president of the Reagan Republicans, said in a statement that his group's initiative is “a conservative effort to reduce the size and scope of government and to free each Idahoan from being in the liquor business.” He said it would take effect July 1, 2013, if it made the November 2012 ballot and voters approved it. … Read more

Idaho House Speaker Lawerence Denney and state GOP Chairman Norm Semanko have now submitted their own legal opinion, written by attorney Christ Troupis, contradicting the Idaho Attorney General's opinion finding that they can't remove their appointees to the citizen redistricting commission. “The legal opinion provided to Denney and Semanko concludes that the AG's opinion is in error,” says a press release from the Idaho GOP; you can read it here. Troupis' opinion cited two Idaho Supreme Court cases, from 1963 and 1988, saying they ruled that the power of removal is incident to the power of appointment. … Read more

The Idaho Republican Party just sent out this news release, despite an Idaho Attorney General's opinion issued last week saying there's no legal way to remove redistricting commissioners:   Chairman Semanko and Speaker Denney to Appoint New Redistricting Commissioners Tuesday Boise, Idaho – The Idaho Republican Party announced today that State Chairman Norm Semanko and Idaho House Speaker Lawerence Denney have removed Randy Hansen and Dolores Crow from the Idaho Redistricting Commission effective immediately. The names of the two new commissioners will be released Tuesday morning. The Redistricting Commission will convene on Thursday, January 26th at 9am at the Idaho Capitol. ###. … Read more

A trio of tea party sympathizers is challenging three longtime GOP incumbents in North Idaho's legislative District 1, as Idaho gears up for its first-ever closed Republican primary this year. Pam Stout, president of the area's Tea Party Patriots group, is challenging Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, who's seeking a seventh term in the state House. … Read more

BOISE – Idaho’s former state chief economist Mike Ferguson estimates that the $35 million in state funds cut from Medicaid this year – which with federal matching funds adds up to $100 million – had a direct impact of eliminating about 2,000 jobs in Idaho. “Those dollars are no longer circulating in the economy,” he said. For economic impact, he said, “You can probably effectively double that. So basically we’ve taken probably somewhere equivalent to 4,000 jobs out by making those cuts.” Read more