One candidate drops out of 6-way Idaho Supreme Court race, endorses another

BOISE - Attorney Christ Troupis is dropping out of the six-way race for an open seat on the Idaho Supreme Court, and instead endorsing Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa.

“We have two conservatives running for this race,” Troupis said, “and the most important thing is to have a conservative Supreme Court justice. He represents all the same values that I do. … I felt very good when I learned that Curt was running.”

McKenzie said, “I appreciate his endorsement as an attorney that I respect immensely.”

Troupis, who unsuccessfully challenged Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the 2014 GOP primary, has been championing legislation that Wasden’s office says is unconstitutional, including a Bible-in-the-schools bill that passed the House on Monday.

McKenzie said, “I didn’t know that Christ was running until Friday morning,” the day of the filing deadline. Troupis said, “I didn’t know ‘til 10 minutes after I filed that Curt was also running.”

With Troupis’ withdrawal, the five candidates seeking the seat being vacated by the retirement of Chief Justice Jim Jones are McKenzie; longtime Deputy Idaho Attorney Clive Strong; current Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez; Boise attorney William “Breck” Seiniger; and Rupert attorney Robyn Brody.

If no candidate receives a majority in the May 17 election, the top two would go to a runoff in the November general election.