Pair jockeying for House speaker post

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Idaho Republican lawmakers will vote Thursday on a new House speaker, a powerful position that this session will select the chairmen of three key House committees.

Vying for the position are Reps. Lawrence Denney, R-Midvale, and Bill Deal, R-Nampa.

Deal is an insurance salesman who chairs the House State Affairs Committee. He is considered to be more business-friendly.

Denney is considered more socially conservative; he wrote the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that voters approved last month. Last session, he served as majority leader for House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, who has retired.

Both Deal and Denney have been trying to line up votes ahead of the secret ballot, leaving lawmakers concerned for their own future once the battle is decided.

Several years ago, Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, challenged Newcomb and lost. Now, Lake is hoping to lead the influential House Revenue and Taxation Committee. If he backs the wrong candidate, it could ruin his chances to get the job.

Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, will count the votes this week.

“The fact that I have to be quiet about it puts me out of harm’s way,” said Wood, the House’s longest-serving member and chairwoman of the Transportation Committee.

In the Senate, the leadership is expected to remain the same, though five committees need new chairmen.