Democrats wooing Idaho independents

IDAHO FALLS – Southeast Boise attorney Gary Allen considered himself an independent voter, until two years ago.

That’s when Allen, fed up with President Bush and seeking improved land-use planning in Idaho, joined the Democratic Party.

“There’s going to be a dramatic shift in this country, and I plan to be on the winning team when that happens,” Allen told the Idaho Statesman. “It’s a symptom of years of Republicans giving cuts to the rich at the expense of the others.”

Democratic Party leaders hope to appeal to more independent residents like Allen in the heavily Republican state of Idaho. About 250 delegates from the Democratic Party met in Idaho Falls over the weekend to confirm party officials, vote on the party’s platform and find ways to seek the independent vote.

Allen and Grant Burgoyne, both Ada County delegates, want a platform that condemns a plan from Republicans designed to make residents declare a party affiliation to vote in primaries.

“There are a lot of people in this state that refuse to identify with a specific party,” Burgoyne said. “What the Republicans are really proposing is to take away the rights of people to vote.”

Some GOP leaders are pushing to make Idaho a closed primary state. That would mean that only Republicans could vote in the Republican primary and only Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary. The state Legislature would have to change Idaho’s primary statutes before the primaries could be closed.

Post Falls Democrat Kristy Reed said the party seems to be gaining ground in Idaho. People used to boo when they saw her car – laden with Democratic bumper stickers – drive by. Fellow Democrats had their cars vandalized, she said.

“Today, I can’t get out of a parking lot without someone asking, ‘Where did you get that?’ ” she said.

Newer residents who considered themselves independent elsewhere may be leaning toward the Democratic Party now that they live in Idaho, officials said.