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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

More Candidates Pop Up On Idaho Election Scene

From Wire Reports

Three more Idahoans have joined the parade of politicians running for statewide office.

The announcements began in earnest after Gov. Phil Batt said last month he would not run for re-election. U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne announced last week he was running for governor, and U.S. Rep. Mike Crapo said this week he’d run for Kempthorne’s Senate seat.

The dominoes continued to fall Tuesday as Idaho House Speaker Mike Simpson said he would run for Crapo’s seat in the U.S. House.

Also announcing on Tuesday were:

Perennial candidate David W. Shepherd, who has launched his second bid for governor.

Moscow elementary school principal Marilyn Howard, who becomes the second Democrat to declare her candidacy for Idaho schools superintendent.

Simpson, 47, a Blackfoot dentist, is in his third term as the House’s chief officer. He will seek the GOP nomination in May’s primary election for the 2nd District congressional seat.

Two other Republicans have formed exploratory committees to make the same race. They are state Rep. Mark Stubbs, R-Twin Falls, and former state Sen. Ann Rydalch of Idaho Falls. Other Republicans mentioned as possible candidates are Boise businessman Doug Dorn, former state Sen. Dane Watkins of Idaho Falls and Sen. Evan Frasure, R-Pocatello.

Former four-term congressman Richard Stallings of Pocatello is considering a race for the Democratic nomination. He held the seat for eight years before giving it up in an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid against Kempthorne in 1992.

“I’m calling people and letting them know that I’m running,” Simpson said Tuesday. He said his chances depend on who gets in.

“So many names are being tossed around right now. If everybody runs, you could win it with five votes,” he said.

Shepherd, 57, said he would run for the Republican nomination for governor in next May’s primary election against Kempthorne, the prohibitive favorite.

“I think it is an open race,”’ the property and apartment manager said Monday.

Shepherd filed for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1994 and received 2,759 votes, finishing third to Larry EchoHawk with 42,661 votes and Ron Beitelspacher with 12,377.

Shepherd previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress four times and for Nez Perce County commissioner once during the past 13 years. He also announced his candidacy for president one time but later withdrew.

Shepherd said his previous bids for public office were unsuccessful because it takes a long time for someone who is not a millionaire to become known. He said he now has visited all 44 Idaho counties.

“I am not a quitter,” he said. “I am a fighter and have something to offer. I’m not a canned politician.”

His top priority will be property tax relief, which he would finance by cutting the state’s skyrocketing prison costs.

Howard, 58, is principal of West Park Elementary School in Moscow. She was raised on a Mackay-area ranch, is chair of the state’s School to Work Project acquainting teenagers with possible careers, and is a member of the University of Idaho’s Quality School Consortium.

“I have 240,000 reasons for running for office,” she said Tuesday. “I’m running for all the children in Idaho schools. I’m running for their parents, their teachers and for the taxpayers who are paying for the education.”