Minnick’s Wife, Ex-TV Anchor, To Lead Demos

A.K. Lienhart-Minnick, a former Boise television anchorwoman and the wife of unsuccessful U.S. Senate challenger Walt Minnick, has been elected chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party.

The state Democratic Central Committee elected her on Saturday to succeed Bill Mauk, a Boise lawyer whose four years as chairman saw the party suffer its worst electoral defeats in two generations. Republicans now control all but one statewide office, all four of Idaho’s congressional seats and 89 of 105 seats in the Legislature.

“It does look like a grim time for Democrats,” the 42-year-old Lienhart-Minnick acknowledged. But she said the party’s members were “absolutely energized” about overcoming what amounts to one-party rule, and committed to raising money and organizing.

“I’m a realist. I’m not standing up here to give you a magic bullet that’s going to lead to a Democratic sweep late next year. We all know better,” she said. However, “We can someday field very strong candidates at the top of the ticket. And they will win when we have tough organization in every pocket of the state.”

Her husband, a former chairman of TJ International, lost to Republican Sen. Larry Craig by 17 points last November. Minnick spent about $1 million of his own fortune on the race, and Lienhart-Minnick made it clear that fund raising will be a priority during her tenure.

Her only challenger, Twin Falls attorney Lloyd Walker, said if elected he would have made changing the party’s image his top priority.

“The Democratic Party’s image right now is very bad. It’s non-existent,” he said. “Fund raising is important. But transferring the image of the Democratic Party into reality through the media is more important.”