Goedde says he’ll reach out
Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde says he’s ready to reach out to the state’s teachers union, after he narrowly survived a challenge from a Democrat in Tuesday’s election.
Goedde’s statement came after six Republican incumbents were defeated in the election, including two House committee chairs and a member of the House majority leadership.
Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, beat Democrat Steven Foxx by just 192 votes. Foxx is a 28-year-old social worker fresh from a Coeur d’Alene City Council loss in 2005.
Democratic challengers defeated Rep. Jack Barraclough, of Idaho Falls, the House Education Committee chairman. They also defeated five Republican House members from Boise: Debbie Field, the House Judiciary Committee chairwoman; Julie Ellsworth, the House Majority Caucus chairwoman; Jana Kemp; Kathie Garrett; and Janet Miller.
Goedde said the message he got from voters is that they want partnerships. “It may not be reaching across partisan aisles, but in my position it may mean reaching across to the IEA (Idaho Education Association) and jointly trying to improve education,” said Goedde, who has often disagreed with the IEA.
IEA Executive Director Jim Shackelford said he looks forward to continuing to work with Goedde on education issues and that they’ve always had a good working relationship, even if they don’t always agree on policy.
“Any kind of collaboration that can be formed between the IEA and Sen. Goedde will be greatly welcomed,” Shackelford said Wednesday.
In March, Goedde openly warned the IEA against running a teacher and union member against him. The incident occurred when Jerry Lee, a Post Falls teacher and union member, entered the race. Soon after, Lee dropped out of the race but said it wasn’t because of the pressure Goedde put on the union.
Even with the Democratic gains, Republicans continue to hold strong majorities in the state Legislature, with the Senate split 28-7 in favor of the GOP and the House split 51-19. That gives the Republicans control of three-quarters of legislative seats, down from just over 80 percent.
Field played a high-profile role in this year’s election as the campaign manager for GOP candidate for governor Butch Otter, who won his race. Branden Durst, a Boise State University graduate who defeated Field, said the morning after the election, “I’ll repeat the word that I have said probably 15,000 times this morning – ‘wow.’ “
Durst defeated Field by 174 votes.
In Coeur d’Alene, Democratic Rep. George Sayler easily defeated his GOP opponent, Sharon Culbreth, while GOP Rep. Marge Chadderdon beat her Democratic challenger, former Rep. Bonnie Douglas, by 824 votes.
Close legislative races around the state included state GOP Rep. Eric Anderson’s defeat of Democratic challenger Steve Elgar by 235 votes in District 1; Sen. Joe Stegner’s defeat of Democratic challenger Mike Naccarato by 295 votes in District 7; and Rep. Ken Andrus’ 410-vote victory over Democratic challenger Allen Andersen in District 29.
Foxx said he knocked on about 8,000 doors in his campaign against Goedde, raised money and worked hard because in Idaho he couldn’t rely on the national Democratic momentum to bring him votes. “We are in a difficult, conservative state,” he said.
Foxx is unsure whether he will run again but said that his close race should be inspiration to other Democrats. “If they have a good campaign, they could win,” he said.