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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Prison Spat Can Only Help Candidate Hawkins Little-Known Senator Who Wants To Be Congressman Gets Great Media Exposure After Suing State

Quane Kenyon Associated Press

State Sen. Stan Hawkins lost his bid to stop the signing of a contract for Idaho’s first private prison, but he looks to be the winner anyway.

The Ucon Republican plans to run for the 2nd Congressional District GOP nomination this spring.

If his goal in going to court and railing against the prison contract was to get publicity for that congressional campaign, he succeeded.

Hawkins’ face and arguments were prominently displayed in news media accounts of the prison battle.

He was little-known outside southeastern Idaho before starting the prison crusade, and he had little name recognition against his likely opponent, House Speaker Michael Simpson.

Simpson’s job as leader of the House gives him a lot of publicity. The Blackfoot dentist has spent the past two years attending Republican meetings all over Idaho, building for a possible campaign for governor. But he decided to go after the 2nd District nomination instead once U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne opted to run for governor.

Beyond the publicity, Hawkins’ stand against the prison contract - along with earlier pronouncements against partial-birth abortions and flag-burning - should win him points with GOP conservatives. Hawkins claims he’s the only true conservative in the field.

That’s important in the primary. Past elections have proved that conservatives tend to turn out in higher numbers than others for the May vote. If Hawkins can appeal to that bloc, he could capture the Republican nomination from Simpson, state Rep. Mark Stubbs of Twin Falls and whoever else might get in.

And the battle over the prison contract isn’t over.

A judge threw out Hawkins’ lawsuit on Monday, and Board of Correction Chairman John Hayden signed a contract on Tuesday with Corrections Corp. of America to design, build and operate a 1,250-bed facility. But the Legislature’s Finance-Appropriations Committee has scheduled a Jan. 16 “review” of the prison project.

Once it is built, lawmakers will have to approve annual operating budgets for the lockup.

Hawkins is a member of the budget panel, so ongoing prison money won’t come easy.

He still maintains it could cost the state an extra $50 million over the next 20 years to carry out the contract.

If lawyers from some of the losing bidders attack the contract award in court, they are expected to come from a different direction. They reportedly maintain that the Department of Correction changed the rules it used to award the contract after issuing its initial request for proposals.

So for now Hawkins is the only person in the public eye battling to save the state millions of dollars on the deal - which isn’t a bad place to be if you are trying to get the conservative vote.

Bigwig bell ringers

Gov. Phil Batt and Sen. Larry Craig spent some of their Christmas holiday as volunteer bell ringers for the Salvation Army at the Boise Towne Square mall. They brought in a lot of donations, working at the main door of the state’s largest retail complex.

The governor got a lot of double-takes from passersby once they realized who it was. Few passed the governor’s pot without dropping something in.

Craig says the secret is making eye contact.

“Once you catch their eye, it’s hard for them to pass you without making a donation,” he said.

Salvation Army officials said in an hour of work Craig collected about as much in donations as lesser-known bell-ringers get in a six-hour shift.