Congressional Candidates Square Off At UI Five Debate Education, Federal Control Of Land, Industry
With the primary less than two months away, University of Idaho students staged the first organized debate Monday between candidates vying for the 1st district Republican congressional nomination.
Despite college finals looming, UI students managed to organize an event usually reserved for television stations or civic groups.
“It’s been a nightmare, but I guess this is the first,” said law student and event organizer Jeff West.
The five candidates, Lt. Gov. Butch Otter, Gene Summa of Boise, Craig Benjamin of Moscow, former state GOP chairman Ron McMurray of Lewiston and Idaho Family Forum cofounder Dennis Mansfield, are all vying to succeed Helen Chenoweth-Hage.
The candidates agreed the federal government should play less of a role in education, public lands and the high-tech industry. But there were some subtle differences.
On education, Otter emphasized education savings accounts and state endowments, while Mansfield, Benjamin, McMurray and Summa all stressed choice in education.
Citing Moscow’s Logos School as a successful example, Mansfield said he supports voucher and tax credit bills. McMurray referred to a foundation created in his hometown, Lewiston, to help fund schools locally.
Benjamin stressed higher education access and strategic partnerships. Summa said more parents need to be home when children arrive from school. All candidates pledged to fight the federal government’s involvement on public lands matters.
“The federal government owns more land than Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Albania, Switzerland and Denmark combined and we have no federal accountability,” McMurray said. Otter suggested following the lead of Idaho’s former governors Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt, who “took on the federal government and won” by securing nuclear waste shipment promises. Mansfield aligned himself with Chenoweth-Hage, saying he would deal with “tyrants” forcefully, referring to federal bureaucrats.
“This is not a matter of being diplomatic with our federal bureaucracy,” Mansfield said. “It’s a matter of standing up for states’ rights.”
With regard to the high-tech industry’s impact on Idaho, Otter called for less regulation and criticized the federal government’s pursuit of antitrust violations against Microsoft, a move he said created “$300 billion worth of economic crisis.”
Summa called for high-tech job training. Benjamin stressed technology access for all Idaho communities.
Otter, in his fourth term as lieutenant governor, is considered the front-runner, with more campaign resources and the backing of the Boise Republican establishment. But Monday, the millionaire businessman stressed his humble farm upbringing.
When asked to describe what he would title the story of his life and its major theme, Otter said it’s that of “a common, ordinary, everyday Idahoan” who could rise to the highest level of public service.
Mansfield said trust would be the theme of his story, titled “A Fighter for Families and a Promise Keeper.” Benjamin said he would call his story “Bold and Faithfulness,” to focus on character, while McMurray said his would be titled “On the Right Side of Idaho,” in reference to his lifelong conservative philosophy.
West said he plans to organize a fall debate between the nominees of both parties. Moscow Attorney Linda Pall is the front-running Democrat.