Idaho Politics - Special coverage at The Spokesman-Review

News > ID Government

Idaho’s growing Hispanic population a factor in education, economy

Mon., June 13, 2016

Hispanics accounted for 42 percent of the enrollment growth in Idaho’s public schools in the last five years, according to a new report from the University of Idaho’s McClure Center for Public Policy Research. In fact, 10 Idaho school districts – and eight Idaho counties, including Boundary County – would have lost population from 2010 to 2014...

Opinion > Column

Eye on Boise: Idaho’s growing Hispanic population a factor in education, economy

Sun., June 12, 2016

Hispanics accounted for 42 percent of the enrollment growth in Idaho’s public schools in the last five years, according to a new report from the University of Idaho’s McClure Center for Public Policy Research.

News > ID Government

Labrador’s Dem challenger calls him out on Trump comments

Wed., June 8, 2016

James Piotrowski, the Democrat who’s challenging Idaho GOP 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador, sent out a news release today calling on Labrador to clarify how he can support presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump after Trump’s comments about a federal judge and the judge’s Mexican...

News > ID Government

Rep. Simpson decries Trump’s ‘hateful diatribes’

Wed., June 8, 2016

Idaho 2nd District GOP Congressman Mike Simpson has joined Sen. Mike Crapo in decrying Donald Trump’s comments that a federal judge can’t be fair in his Trump University fraud case because he is of Mexican heritage. Here is Simpson’s statement: "America is a country where...

News > ID Government

GOP challenger to Sen. Schmidt withdraws from race amid party infighting

Tue., June 7, 2016

Amid GOP infighting, a 22-year-old candidate who had been planning to challenge Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, in November has withdrawn from the race, the AP reports. John Freeland, who has been in a spat with fellow Latah County GOP officials over Facebook postings, said he...

News > Idaho

Idaho Sen. Crapo calls on Trump to withdraw comments on judge

Tue., June 7, 2016

Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo, pressed by Democratic challenger Jerry Sturgill to disavow presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s statements that a federal judge presiding over a fraud case involving Trump University can’t be fair because of the judge’s Mexican heritage, is now calling on Trump to retract his comments.

News > ID Government

Crapo calls on Trump to withdraw comments about federal judge Curiel

Tue., June 7, 2016

Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo, attacked yesterday by Democratic challenger Jerry Sturgill for backing presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump despite Trump’s statements that a federal judge presiding over a fraud case involving Trump University can’t be fair because of the judge’s Mexican heritage, is calling on Trump to retract...

News > ID Government

Labrador: Momentum building for sentencing reform

Mon., June 6, 2016

Here’s my full story from spokesman.com: By Betsy Z. Russell BOISE – Idaho GOP Congressman Raul Labrador says momentum is building in Congress for major criminal justice reforms, aimed at reversing decades of focus on long prison terms that even hit non-violent and first-time offenders. “I...

News > ID Government

Column: Thayn’s call to Idaho conservatives, Labrador campaign team, F&G controversy…

Mon., June 6, 2016

Idaho state Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, had a booth at the state GOP convention over the weekend, where he was handing out copies of his latest book, “Reprogramming Government, A Conservative Approach.” The thesis? “That libertarian conservatism is ineffective,” Thayn said. Instead, he’s calling for...

Opinion > Column

Eye on Boise: Sen. Steven Thayn calls on conservatives to ‘do something,’ not just complain

Sun., June 5, 2016

Idaho state Sen. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, had a booth at the state GOP convention over the weekend, where he was handing out copies of his latest book, “Reprogramming Government, A Conservative Approach.” Like his previous books, it’s published in a small format, about the size of a pocket U.S. Constitution. The thesis? “That libertarian conservatism is ineffective,” Thayn said. Instead, he’s calling for a “win-win” approach, defined as “empowering the citizens with local control over resources and choices.”