The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
65°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Third Republican declares candidacy for U.S. House

Associated Press

LEWISTON – A state lawmaker from Kooskia has announced his candidacy for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, the latest entry into the Republican field vying for the seat being vacated by incumbent Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho.

Otter announced late last year he will run for governor in 2006, spurring an early start to campaigning for the GOP 1st District primary one year from now. State Sen. Skip Brandt said he was filing his declaration of candidacy for the seat Friday with the Federal Election Commission and will shortly make a one-day swing across the district to formally announce his campaign.

“It’s all a matter of organizing,” Brandt told the Lewiston Tribune.

The three-term state senator joins another Republican state senator, Sheila Sorensen of Boise, and Idaho Water Users Association President Norm Semanko as the three declared candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the district, which stretches across the western half of Idaho from the Canadian border in the north to the Nevada line in the south.

Other Republicans who say they are considering bids to succeed Otter in the 1st District include State Controller Keith Johnson of Boise, state Sen. Joe Stegner of Lewiston and Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez of Caldwell.

Former Idaho congressman Larry LaRocco is the only Democrat to publicly express an interest in running for the seat and has said he will make a decision by the end of the month.

Brandt is a north central Idaho conservative who was a leading opponent of a landmark water settlement reached this year between the Nez Perce Tribe and the state of Idaho to resolve the tribe’s claims for water rights under an 1855 treaty signed by the United States. He argued the deal infringed on private property rights and was too expensive; Semanko lobbied for the settlement and praised it as a boost to Idaho’s economy.

Brandt differed with Sorensen on a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution banning same-sex marriage. He favors the amendment, but Sorensen killed a House-passed bill for the amendment in the Senate State Affairs Committee in 2004.