Idaho Gov. Butch Otter stops to talk with reporters while campaigning door-to-door in Meridian last weekend. Otter faces a GOP primary challenge May 20 from Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Russ Fulcher in his bid for a third term as Idaho governor. (SR photo: Betsy Russell)
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has built a long political career on disdain for the federal government, stirring talk of freedom and encouraging Idahoans to be the “architects of our own destiny.” So the 72-year-old, a millionaire rancher who ran for Congress a decade and a half ago on a pledge to tell the feds to “butt out” of the state, seems a bit puzzled about his GOP primary challenge by a state Senate leader who maintains Otter is not conservative enough. “Did I ever believe in my life somebody would run at me from the right? No, I didn’t,” Otter said, as he paused from campaigning for a third term as governor, walking door to door in a Meridian neighborhood. His challenger, Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Russ Fulcher, pictured, heads a slate of Republican candidates taking on Idaho’s top GOP officeholders in the primary. The challengers say the incumbents are not true enough to the Idaho Republican Party’s platform/Betsy Russell, SR. More here.
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.
freedom and encouraging Idahoans to be the “architects of our own destiny.” So the 72-year-old, a millionaire rancher who ran for Congress a decade and a half ago on a pledge to tell the feds to “butt out” of the state, seems a bit puzzled about his GOP primary challenge by a state Senate leader who maintains Otter is not conservative enough. “Did I ever believe in my life somebody would run at me from the right? No, I didn’t,” Otter said, as he paused from campaigning for a third term as governor, walking door to door in a Meridian neighborhood. His challenger, Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Russ Fulcher, pictured, heads a slate of Republican candidates taking on Idaho’s top GOP officeholders in the primary. The challengers say the incumbents are not true enough to the Idaho Republican Party’s platform/Betsy Russell, SR. More here.
