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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Batt Won’t Seek Second Term Governor Cites Age As Factor In Announcing Surprise Decision

Betsy Z. Russell Craig Welch Contrib Staff writer

Popular Idaho Gov. Phil Batt announced Wednesday that he won’t seek a second term.

Batt, 70, said, “If I were to serve out another term, I would be nearly 76.”

The successful onion farmer and longtime Idaho politician said he decided it is time to “step aside” in favor of the next generation of Idaho leaders.

The governor’s decision surprised many supporters and set off a wave of speculation and positioning among Idaho politicians.

U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne said he and wife Patricia “will be consulting with Idahoans about how I can best serve them in the future.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Crapo said he’s strongly considering running for governor or, if Kempthorne runs, seeking Kempthorne’s Senate seat.

State House Speaker Mike Simpson, who just two weeks ago took himself out of the governor’s race because he said it appeared Batt would run again, said, “I’m going to sit back and see how these dominoes start to fall before I make any decisions.”

Simpson has said he also could run for Crapo’s congressional seat. “If I don’t run for some other office, then I’ll run for re-election to the Legislature.”

Lt. Gov. Butch Otter said he’ll decide within two to three weeks whether to run for governor or seek re-election as lieutenant governor. “There’s nothing wrong with a good primary,” Otter said.

But he added that he doesn’t want to undo the work Batt did as Republican state chairman in the early 1990s to unify Idaho’s Republican party.

“I hope we’ll all remind ourselves of what happened in 1978,” he said. That year, seven candidates - including Otter - ran in the Republican primary for governor. Allen Larsen, the victor, then lost the general election to Democrat John Evans.

Democrats hope for a repeat performance.

“Obviously if Dirk Kempthorne comes back to run, he’d be a very, very strong candidate,” said Democrat Dan Williams, who narrowly lost a 1996 race to replace U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth. “If he doesn’t, there might be a big Republican primary, and that could coax some Democrats into the race.”

Batt is Idaho’s first Republican governor in 24 years, though the state is heavily Republican.

State Democratic Party executive director Karen White said several Democrats are considering running for governor or other offices, but they’re not ready to step forward yet. “I think that, in all honesty, it’s probably a different type of opportunity than it was,” she said shortly after Batt’s announcement. “We will definitely have people running for those offices.”

One possibility is ex-legislator Ron Beitelspacher, who lost a Democratic primary bid for governor in 1994 to Larry EchoHawk.

The Washington Water Power lineman from Grangeville said Wednesday he “absolutely” was considering another try.

“It’s a bit too early to make a decision just yet,” Beitelspacher said. “Phil just announced his decision. I’d kind of like to sit down with my wife and talk about it.”

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Richard Stallings, who lost a Senate bid to Kempthorne, said he’s “going to keep all of my options open.”

“I’m going to give it some time, talk to some friends, think about it and make a decision based on what’s best for my family,” said Stallings, now the head of public housing for the city of Pocatello.

Batt, flanked by his wife and grown children and many longtime supporters, said, “I want you to know that I enjoy this job and live in amazement and humility that I have been entrusted with it. There is 32 percent of my term left to serve. I will serve it with vigor.”

He said in addition to his age, a factor in his decision was his discomfort with what he called “the rough and tumble of politics.”

“I face problems head-on, then make a decision and live with the consequences,” Batt said. “Although I’ve enjoyed broad support, I’m not comfortable with the loud cries of protest I occasionally hear. I don’t like making people mad.”

His supporters gave him a sustained round of applause after his announcement. There were some tears.

Batt said he’s visited with some potential candidates, but has made no deals and won’t endorse anyone in the gubernatorial primary. He did, however, endorse Republican Attorney General Al Lance for re-election.

In the race for governor, he said, “I think that our chances of re-election by a Republican are very high if we don’t drop the ball somewhere.”

The governor said he’s proud of his accomplishments - including winning worker’s compensation coverage for farm workers, launching welfare reform and shrinking state government - and plans to push hard for reforms designed to reduce Idaho’s spending on prisons during the final third of his term.

“We have … better uses for the money,” said Batt, who has built a reputation as a tightwad.

When he leaves office, Batt said he plans to go back to work for the family farming business.

“My son Bill here is the chief stockholder,” he said. “He says that they will employ me again.”

He and his wife, Jacque, also will spend more time at their vacation home in Arizona, south of Tucson. “We’ll use that a lot more than we have the last few years.”

Simpson said he thought the fact that Batt waited so long to make his announcement would make a primary run tough for him.

“It gives you seven or eight months to put together the money and do everything you need to do,” he said. “The lateness of an announcement like this gives an incredible advantage to somebody who already has a statewide organization, and money raised for their re-election to another office.”

That’s pretty much Kempthorne’s position.

“If Dirk decided to run for this, he’d be a formidable candidate,” Simpson said, “but in these circumstances he might be an impossible candidate to beat.”

Crapo said he has spent the past three years encouraging Batt to run for a second term.

“I think he’s a great governor, he’s a great personal friend of mine and I was hoping he would run,” Crapo said. “I think the state of Idaho will lose a great leader when he retires.”

Crapo, who led the state Senate before being elected to Congress, said, “Obviously I’m torn on the issue of whether to run for governor. I’m in the middle of some tremendous reforms and opportunities here in Washington, and my opportunity to influence the decisions and the outcome of those reforms is growing. That is a big factor in causing me to stay.”

On the other hand, Crapo said, he’d love to return home to Idaho. He now commutes back and forth, as his family has remained in Idaho Falls.

“I think the opportunity to serve as the governor of the state of Idaho would just be a tremendous opportunity.”

Crapo said he hoped he and Kempthorne could decide together which of them will run for governor. “Since I have such a strong interest in the Senate race, if he were to move to the governor’s race, then I think the likelihood is very remote that there would be any contest between the two of us.”

“As soon as I get a chance, I’m going to give him a call.”

Kempthorne, who was tied up with Senate business and wouldn’t talk to reporters beyond a written statement Wednesday, started his political career as mayor of Boise. He has long made it clear that he and his family missed living in Idaho and would love to be back.

But he also has spent much of his Senate term working on a compromise proposal to reform the Endangered Species Act. The compromise was just unveiled this week.

A run for governor now might deprive Kempthorne of the chance to see that through.

Otter, who has served 12 years as lieutenant governor, said he’s “never made any secret that I expected someday” to move up to governor. But he immediately faced questions from reporters about how his muchpublicized drunken driving conviction in 1993 might affect his race.

“I was the architect of my own destiny there, and I’m just going to have to deal with it,” Otter said. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. That was probably the most public one.”

The primary election is May 26, 1998. The general election follows on Nov. 3.

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition.

This sidebar appeared with the story: POSSIBLE CONTENDERS FOR GOVERNOR Gov. Phil Batt’s announcement that he will not seek re-election figures to stir up next year’s gubernatorial race. Possible contenders include: Republicans: Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. senator, Boise Mike Crapo, U.S. representative, Idaho Falls Mike Simpson, state House speaker, Blackfoot Butch Otter, lieutenant governor, Star Democrats: Ron Beitelspacher, former state legislator, Grangeville Richard Stallings, former U.S. representative, Pocatello

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer Staff writer Craig Welch contributed to this report.

Cut in the Spokane edition.

This sidebar appeared with the story: POSSIBLE CONTENDERS FOR GOVERNOR Gov. Phil Batt’s announcement that he will not seek re-election figures to stir up next year’s gubernatorial race. Possible contenders include: Republicans: Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. senator, Boise Mike Crapo, U.S. representative, Idaho Falls Mike Simpson, state House speaker, Blackfoot Butch Otter, lieutenant governor, Star Democrats: Ron Beitelspacher, former state legislator, Grangeville Richard Stallings, former U.S. representative, Pocatello

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer Staff writer Craig Welch contributed to this report.