GOP race pits rivals from ‘04
They share a political party, and both have held the title of senator. But that’s where the similarities stop for the two candidates hashing it out for the Idaho Senate District 3 seat.
Former Sen. Kent Bailey, R-Hayden, wants his job back and is fighting to boot Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, from office in Tuesday’s Republican primary. That’s just what Jorgenson did to Bailey in 2004. The winner will face Democrat Ian Stenseng in the November general election.
“If he did a good job, I would have left it alone,” said Bailey, a former sheriff’s deputy who owned a private security company in Hayden. “I don’t think he did what was right.”
The two candidates disagree on nearly every issue, whether it’s the state’s relationship with Indian tribes or pinning down water rights.
At a recent candidates forum, Bailey feigned shock when they agreed that parents should have to give consent before their children can join high school clubs.
Jorgenson thinks he has become a standout as a freshman lawmaker, especially with his work with Idaho tribes. He drew attention when he stood up to Republican leadership, speaking out against a bill to seize about $3 million in annual gas tax revenues the courts earlier ruled belong to the tribes. As chairman of the Idaho Council on Indian Affairs, Jorgenson is working to find a compromise before the start of the 2007 legislative session.
He also opposed Republican leadership’s attempt to launch a state-financed constitutional challenge of the successful voter initiative that legalized limited gambling at Indian reservation casinos.
“The Legislature has got to stop carrying on these old biases,” Jorgenson said about the state’s relationship with the tribes. “The tribal chiefs are more than willing to put bygones in the past.”
Bailey argues it’s not his job as a senator to represent the tribes, who are sovereign nations. He thinks the tribes should pay fuel tax dollars to the state to help with highway construction, especially on the non-reservation land between Coeur d’Alene and the Coeur d’Alene Casino.
“If you are going to represent the state of Idaho, you need to represent the state of Idaho and not the state of Indian Nations,” Bailey said.
Bailey also thinks Jorgenson failed North Idahoans by not getting more money for the U.S. Highway 95 reconstruction project this session. He said “too much politics” was played with such a critical need.
Jorgenson contends that the North Idaho delegation is exactly why Highway 95 got $35 million for the Garwood-to-Sagle project. He said Bailey is a former Senate Transportation Committee member and should have a better knowledge of the system.
Property taxes are another area where the candidates disagree.
Jorgenson supports removing school operations and maintenance costs from property taxes and using sales tax to replace the dollars.
Bailey is uncomfortable removing all school operation costs from property taxes partly because he doesn’t think the sales tax would be a good replacement. He said the Legislature promised not to increase the sales tax after a temporary 1 percent increase that expired in July 2005. He’s also upset that lawmakers voted to make the tax rate on cigarettes permanent. Bailey thinks there are too many sales tax exemptions. For example, he opposed a bill that reimburses the film industry for all sales and use taxes.
Like Jorgenson, Bailey served one term in the Senate. Bailey said his greatest accomplishment was changing the Senate rules to require recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every business session. The U.S. Army combat veteran also pushed to get a motorcycle license plate for veterans and is working to get a veterans cemetery in North Idaho. The state is looking for land, and Bailey thinks Farragut State Park is the perfect location because the former naval training station has a military history.
Jorgenson is a former Hayden Lake City Council member who works as an expert witness in business lawsuits often dealing with franchises. Jorgenson got his start working for Snap-On Tools as a branch manager and has owned investment companies.
He thinks his education, business experience and communication skills make him the best candidate. Jorgenson also has nearly five times more campaign cash than Bailey, with $18,815. About $13,100 is left over from his last election.
Bailey has raised $3,745 but doesn’t think money is the key to the race. He’s made a campaign guarantee to anyone who contributes $5 to his campaign. If in the first 100 days the contributor isn’t satisfied with Bailey’s efforts, he will refund the $5. If the contributor gave more than $5, they still only get a $5 refund, he said.
Bailey thinks Idaho, as an agricultural state, should take the lead in alternative energy.
As for education, Bailey doesn’t think the state should dictate curriculum. If lawmakers want more math and science taught, it should start in grade school, not high school, he said.
Jorgenson, vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee, isn’t opposed to making high school graduation requirements more stringent, he said. He just doesn’t know where the state will get the money to hire more science and math teachers.