Johnson candidate for Idaho House

Constitution Party candidate Rose Johnson, of Hauser, announced her candidacy Wednesday as a write-in candidate for the Idaho House, wanting to make English the official language of the state.

She said Idaho shouldn’t cater to immigrants, “baby-sitting” them while they learn the language.

Johnson said she learned late Wednesday from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office that she has to run as a write-in candidate in the May 23 primary. By state law, if she gets 50 votes, she can run as a write-in candidate in the November general election.

Johnson alleges discrimination, saying if she was a Democrat or Republican and got 50 votes in the primary, she would automatically get a place on the general election ballot and would no longer be a write-in candidate. She said third-party candidates don’t get equal treatment, and she plans to challenge the law if she gets 50 write-in votes in the primary.

Johnson is challenging Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Democrat David Larsen.

She is running because she said Nonini refused to carry her “English-only” proposal this session. She ran against the same candidates for the District 5 seat in 2004.

She will also continue her fight for judicial accountability, arguing that Idaho courts have the power to violate people’s rights. She wants to change the state Constitution to promote judicial accountability.

Moscow, Idaho

Governor unable to speak at UI

The confirmation hearings in Washington, D.C., for secretary of interior nominee Dirk Kempthorne are forcing some changes in Idaho this weekend.

Idaho’s governor was originally scheduled to be the commencement speaker at his alma mater, the University of Idaho, on Saturday. But he’s been participating in confirmation hearings this week and won’t be able to make it, the UI said Wednesday.

Instead, Secretary of State Ben Ysura will give the commencement address Saturday at the UI’s plenary ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. at the ASUI-Kibbie Dome on the Moscow campus.

That will be preceded by a march of graduates through campus. Nearly 2,000 students are expected to participate.

Ysura was born in Boise and graduated from Gonzaga University in 1971 and St. Louis University Law School in 1974. He has worked in various capacities in the secretary of state’s office since then and was elected to the top job in 2002.

From staff reports