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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Candidates Lining Up For 1st District Seat

The race for Idaho’s 1st District senate seat, held by Democrat Tim Tucker, is starting to draw a crowd.

Former Bonner County commissioner Gene Brown announced his candidacy for the post Friday. Shawn Keough, a timber information coordinator for Sandpoint’s Chamber of Commerce, also wants the job.

Brown and Keough are running as Republicans. They’ll square off in the state primary election on May 28.

Tucker, a Porthill farmer and 15-year veteran legislator, plans to officially announce his re-election bid this week.

Brown, 55, is already on the offensive, saying Tucker has been an ineffective voice for Bonner and Boundary counties. During his tenure, Tucker has done little to address increasing property taxes and North Idaho’s deteriorating highways, Brown said.

“It’s time for a change, and I plan to focus on the issues and place his (Tucker’s) record before the voters and let them decide,” he said.

Brown was a controversial figure during his one term as commissioner. He pushed for lower taxes and prided himself on representing the common man, but he was labeled a badtempered, shoot-from-the-hip politician. While in office, he received death threats and had his car and bookstore vandalized. Brown was voted out of office in 1994.

Keough, 36, said she’s tired of North Idaho issues being put on the back burner by Boise politicians.

“We need an aggressive representative who can put our issues on the table,” she said.

Specifically, she pointed to sales tax and education funding formulas that favor larger cities and leave Bonner and Boundary counties strapped for cash.

Tucker sat on the education, local government and taxation committees this year.

“With the downturn in the timber and tourism economies, our communities and the people in them are increasingly taxed to keep things going,” Keough said. “I want to go to Boise and fight for the tools that can help us help ourselves. The rest of the state seems to be getting those tools and we deserve our fair share.”

If elected, Keough plans to take a leave of absence without pay from her chamber of commerce post.

, DataTimes