State Senate, District 3 Ellis, Goedde

Curtis Ellis and John Goedde don’t agree on much.

The two Republicans both want retiring state Sen. Gordon Crow’s District 3 seat in Boise. Both businessmen slam Idaho’s tax climate as anti-development.

Beyond that, Goedde and Ellis come from vastly different sides of the party.

Ellis, a Coeur d’Alene caterer, is a conservative Christian who thinks Idaho schools need to find better ways to spend their money.

Goedde, a Coeur d’Alene insurance agent, favors lowering the state’s two-thirds supermajority to pass more school funding measures.

Goedde says Idaho’s road problems - including financing safety improvements for U.S. Highway 95 - top his agenda. Ellis, on the other hand, says federal money is already solving problems with U.S. Highway 95. His top issue is funding distribution in government and schools.

The two candidates embody the conservative-moderate split in the Republican party.

Ellis, who attends the 3,000-member New Life Community Church in Rathdrum, expects to draw support from other evangelical Christians. But he also says he is more than a social conservative.

“I ran a business for eight years,” he said.

Goedde doesn’t attend church regularly. But he doesn’t think that will hurt him in the race.

“I guess if all the public’s looking for is a label, it might,” he said.

That doesn’t mean he won’t represent the more conservative elements of the party, Goedde said. “I have a responsibility to represent my constituency. I also have a responsibility to my conscience.”

Crow, retiring after six years to spend more time with his son, is throwing his support behind Goedde.

Neither candidate has prior political experience. Both tout their records as members of the Coeur d’Alene business community, and their community service experience.

Both campaigns are acting like this is a close race.

Goedde sent a letter out to party supporters in hopes of bringing an extra 1,000 people to the polls. Ellis “is expected to have the strong support of a constituency with a very limited agenda,” Goedde’s letter says. “Regrettably, such a constituency is all that it takes to win a primary in District 3.”

Ellis, meanwhile, is making the rounds to service groups, holding meetings over coffee nearly every night. He figures that 700 regular election votes in his precinct translate to only 70 votes in the primary.

“We’re not shotgunning, we’re sharpshooting,” he said.