Newcomb won’t seek re-election
BOISE – House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said Thursday he will leave the Legislature after this year.
Newcomb, R-Burley, said he won’t seek re-election after serving 20 years in the Idaho House, eight of them as the leader of that body. Newcomb has served longer than any other Idaho House speaker.
“This place and these people are like home and family to me. I met my wife here, and some of my best friends in the world,” Newcomb said. “It’s going to be hard to go, but it’s time to get back to the ranch and leave the heavy lifting to younger backs.”
Newcomb, 66, is married to Celia Gould, a former state representative from Buhl. He is a farmer and rancher who was chosen as speaker in 1998 after his predecessor, Mike Simpson, was elected to Congress.
Simpson, a Republican, said Thursday that Newcomb will be remembered for his work on complex water rights issues and for his skill at getting along with others.
“Bruce works hard, he gets to know the issues, and he is one of those guys that’s willing to work with other people,” Simpson said. “He’s not so ideologically strident that he won’t give and take, which is what’s necessary in the legislative process.”
Simpson said Newcomb told him last fall he wouldn’t seek re-election.
Newcomb first ran for the Legislature in 1984 as a Democrat but lost. He ran the next time around as a Republican and has been there ever since.
Steve Ahrens, president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, the state’s most influential business lobbying group, credited Newcomb for strong leadership in helping the Legislature repeal a voter-passed initiative in 2002 that set term limits for elected officials.
“We had a coalition together that was seeking repeal, but to be effective you had to have the support also of the elected officials who were directly in the bull’s-eye. That took courage for people who clearly had a vested interest to stand up and say, ‘You know, term limits is a bad idea for the state,’ ” Ahrens said. “Bruce was the acknowledged legislative leader in that effort and we got the job done.”
About 10 years ago, Newcomb was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and lost his hair. Ahrens and about 15 other lobbyists and legislators shaved their heads as a gesture of support.
“As much as I respect all Idaho legislators, there are very few I’d shave my head for,” Ahrens said. “Bruce Newcomb is one.”
Newcomb has five grown children and seven grandchildren. Simpson said Newcomb didn’t give him any reasons for his decision to leave the Statehouse.
“I think 20 years is a long time to serve in a legislative body,” Simpson said. “It’s a stressful job actually – and after 20 years, it’s time to have some new blood come in with new ideas and that kind of stuff.”
The news of Newcomb’s departure raised speculation in the Statehouse about who will take his place as speaker.
“At least six people, tomorrow morning when they look in the mirror to shave, they will see a speaker of the house staring back at them,” Ahrens said.