North Idaho has a new crew of conservative GOP legislators who took office this past week, even as the rest of the state resisted a push to oust lawmakers who favored a state health insurance exchange proposed by GOP Gov. Butch Otter. Of the 45 Republicans in both houses of the Idaho Legislature who voted in favor of the exchange in 2012, just four fell to challengers from the right in this year’s GOP primary – but three of the four were in North Idaho. Two longtime Idaho lawmakers were ousted – Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, by new Sen. Mary Souza, and Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, by new Rep. Sage Dixon; while freshman GOP Rep. Ed Morse fell to new Rep. Eric Redman.

Meanwhile, the retirements of two GOP lawmakers from North Idaho who had voted for the exchange prompted contested primary races, both won by the most conservative candidates – new Rep. Don Cheatham, R-Post Falls, who replaces former Rep. Frank Henderson of Post Falls; and new Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, a fisheries biologist who replaces former Rep. Eric Anderson of Priest Lake; she's pictured above. She handily defeated Republican Stephen Snedden in the primary, who had been endorsed by Gov. Butch Otter.

In my Sunday story here, I take a look at North Idaho’s new crew of lawmakers, and also run down some numbers, including these: 11 GOP exchange backers were challenged unsuccessfully in the primary. Seven of them, none from North Idaho, defeated their primary challengers with more than 60 percent of the vote. Of the four who had closer primary races, two were from North Idaho. There were 27 Republican lawmakers who voted for the exchange and then drew no challenge in this year’s GOP primary election; none of them were from North Idaho.

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