Andrus Supports Hedrick

He is not in the race yet, but Meridian School Board Chairman Wally Hedrick is the choice of former Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus for state schools superintendent.

In fact, Andrus said Hedrick would be the only candidate he would actively support during next year’s election.

“I owe him and respect him, and I think he would make a whale of a superintendent of public instruction,” the former four-term governor said.

Hedrick, who was director of the Idaho Lottery during the Andrus administration, said he expects to decide whether to seek the Democratic nomination by the end of the year. In Meridian he is board chairman for Idaho’s second-largest and fastest-growing school district with some 19,000 students.

Republican state Schools Superintendent Anne Fox plans to seek a second term. She is facing at least two challengers for the GOP nomination.