Boise Man Launches Campaign For Controller Former Gop Official Challenges The Only Democrat Holding Statewide Office
Republican Harold Orien launched his campaign for the state controller’s office on Monday, promising more efficient operations than those under the incumbent, J.D. Williams, Idaho’s only Democrat holding statewide office.
Orien, 41, of Boise, has never run for public office before. He launched his campaign at the Statehouse for the GOP nomination in the May 26 primary election. He is the only announced candidate for the GOP nomination.
Williams is expected to be unopposed on the Democratic side. He has been state controller since 1989 when 30-year veteran Joe Williams, a distant relative, resigned.
There has been some talk that Democrats might not put a lot of money into the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races and would concentrate their funding instead on the more winnable controller and congressional races.
“I don’t think the Democrats will be content to focus on one race,” Orien said.
Orien formerly was Ada County Republican Party chairman. He works at Hewlett-Packard in customer support for software and has a master’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University.
He said he will ask voters, “What has come from the state controller’s office in the last nine years that has helped you?”
Orien said spending in the controller’s office has increased sharply during the last six years - faster than the growth in state government would justify.
He also criticized Williams for failing to meet one of the duties of the office - preparing the state financial report and presenting it to state officials by Jan. 1.
But Williams said the GOP challenger is flatly wrong on that point.
“The report was turned in to Gov. Phil Batt on Dec. 31, as required by the law,” Williams said.
He also said he is “perplexed” by Orien’s other criticism.
During the period Orien cited, Williams said, the general tax revenue portion of his office’s budget went down by 38 percent, while all of state government spent 69 percent more.
“Regarding all funds, my total budget, including the computer center, went up 50.8 percent, primarily due to the purchase of new computers to serve the state, and other funds for state agencies went up 61.8 percent.
“In both cases, I did substantially better than the rest of the state, particularly reducing the tax-supported portion of the budget. That frees up the money for other portions of the budget, including education,” Williams said.
xxxx BACKGROUND Harold Orien formerly was Ada County Republican Party chairman. He works at Hewlett-Packard in customer support for software and has a master’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University.