Governor

The governor is the chief executive officer for the state and must see that all laws are enforced. The governor signs or vetoes legislation; proposes a state budget to the Legislature; nominates and appoints people for office; commands the state military forces; and serves on the state Land Board.

Term: Four years.

Annual salary: $102,440.

Republican U.S. Rep. C.L. “Butch” Otter, isn’t Idaho’s governor, but he’s running like he already has the job.

Otter, 64, a cowboy boot-wearing millionaire with monogrammed shirt cuffs who made his fortune at the agricultural conglomerate owned by J.R. Simplot, his former father-in-law, is running like an incumbent: picking and choosing debates and waiting to begin serious campaigning until after Labor Day.

“What he’s following here is a strategy that’s worked. It’s good politics,” said Jim Weatherby, political scientist emeritus at Boise State University. “Otter is hard to pin down.”

That hasn’t stopped Democrat Jerry Brady, who lost to Dirk Kempthorne for the governor’s seat in 2002, from trying.

Brady came out opposed to private “shooter-bull” operations, after some 160 elk escaped from a hunting farm near Yellowstone National Park. He said Otter has been disingenuous by telling the elk-farming industry he never supported banning Idaho’s 14 penned hunting camps, while saying he’d back the Legislature if it deemed a ban necessary.

”(Otter) feels he is just going to walk into this, and what he needs to do is make no mistakes: Be visible, ride a horse and lean against a corral fence, and issue lofty statements about individual liberty and freedom. And coast into the election,” said Brady, 70, a Notre Dame-educated lawyer and former publisher of the Idaho Falls Post Register (he’s still president of the Post Co., which owns the Post Register). “We’re not going to let him do that.”

Both men are Catholics whose first marriages were annulled so they could remarry. And both oppose a $130 million plan that includes adding underground wings to the Idaho Capitol to relieve cramped quarters, instead favoring renovating adjacent state-owned buildings.

Most similarities end there.

The two can’t even agree on how often to debate. Otter consented to three events, in Twin Falls, Lewiston and Boise, but rejected October’s statewide televised League of Women Voters event. Brady wanted more debates, but Otter says he’s got a job to do – he’s still the 1st District congressman – and has to manage his time.

In February, Brady lambasted Otter for taking campaign money from a California company aiming to build a coal-fired power plant in Idaho.

They’ve also battled over outgoing Gov. Jim Risch’s Aug. 25 special legislative session to cut property taxes now dedicated to schools and raise the sales tax to make up for it. Otter says the change helps homeowners, Brady says it hurts schools and poor people.

Now, they’re arguing over two proposed wilderness areas in central and southwestern Idaho. Otter calls the proposals flawed, saying they would lock up the state under federal control, at a time when just 17 percent of Idaho is in private hands.

“I don’t see any sense in not trying to get every acre we can possibly get, so we can graze it, so we can manage it and get any kind of economic activity, recreational activity, so that somebody can come into the state, buy a candy bar and a gallon of gas and go ATVing,” Otter told the Associated Press.

Brady praises the measures’ Republican sponsors, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo, for forging a compromise that’s good for the state, helps economic development and protects public lands.

“Otter is demonstrating he will make the wrong decisions for the majority of the people of Idaho,” Brady said in a recent interview. “He does not share our values.”

Earlier this year, they locked horns on a U.S. House plan to sell federal land across the West, including in Idaho, to finance Hurricane Katrina relief. Brady opposed it, saying it threatened public access.

Otter initially favored it but eventually concluded he was wrong. He says this shows his political style isn’t unlike that of former Republican Gov. Phil Batt, who left office in 1998. Batt, an onion farmer from Wilder, once asked the entire Fish and Game Commission to resign before saying he’d made a mistake.

“I don’t think you could ask much more than that from a governor except one that will listen to the arguments,” Otter said. “And if some of those arguments suggest very strongly that the governor is wrong, that he’s not so ego-driven that he’s unwilling to say, ‘You were right, and I was wrong.’ “

Brady says Idaho is ripe for change after 12 years with a GOP governor.

He acknowledged that candidates who failed in previous elections, as he did against Kempthorne, often struggle when trying to resurrect their political ambitions. That’s not a concern, he said. “What I’ve found is, there’s very little holding onto the past, reactionary Republicanism,” Brady said. “It’s a different year. It’s a different opponent. We’re feeling good about it.”

Ted Dunlap, of the Libertarian Party, and Marvin “Pro-Life” Richardson (he had his name legally changed), of the Constitution Party, are also on the November ballot.

Democrat Jerry Brady, 70, Idaho Falls: Wants to protect Idaho’s public lands, fight methamphetamine abuse, and raise minimum wage to at least $7 an hour from its current $5.15. Opposes a plan to expand the Capitol with two underground wings. “The first thing I want to do is bring some balance back to this state. We’ve pretty much got an establishment that goes unchecked. There’s nobody to say, ‘Don’t.’ “

Libertarian Ted Dunlap, 57, Grangeville: Wants to institute a $5,000 tax deduction for tuition to private school for any Idaho schoolchild. “The private school sector can do a lot more for a lot less money. The government service is not the most efficient way to get things done.”

Republican C.L. “Butch” Otter, 64, Star: Wants to improve communication among first-responders during crises, fight government waste and unnecessary regulation, and check government encroachment into the private lives of Idaho residents. Opposes a plan to expand the Capitol with two underground wings. “I think I’m prepared to run for governor. I know how the government can be helpful, and I know how the government can be restrictive.”

Constitution Party candidate Marvin “Pro-Life” Richardson, 65, Letha: “I’m totally against public education.” Wants to close down all abortion clinics in Idaho.