Huckleberries: Batt never forgot snub

Huckleberries Wednesday:

In this October 1994 S-R file photo, Idaho gubernatorial candidates Phil Batt, left, and Ron Rankin, right, await their turn while Larry EchoHawk gives his opening debate statement. (File/The Spokesman-Review)

Former Republican Gov. Phil Batt has reminded me many times over the years, good-naturedly, that The Spokesman-Review endorsed his Democratic opponent, Larry EchoHawk, in the 1994 Idaho gubernatorial race.

And every time he does, I tell him that it wasn’t my fault. That, as the Idaho representative on the editorial board of the day, I had recommended Batt. And that he’d won the endorsement on the first ballot. Editor Chris Peck, who really, really wanted to endorse EchoHawk, engineered a reversal.

Last week, I told you about the 1996 endorsement of state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who will call it quits in 2018 after finishing her 11th term. I was the go-to editorial writer and interviewer for Idaho political endorsements during my 13 years on the editorial board, 1993-2006. During much of that time, the board consisted of about nine members.

The board rarely rejected my endorsement recommendations. But they did when it came to Batt and Lt. Gov. EchoHawk. Sorta.

On the day we voted, seven of the nine editorial board members were present. The board picked Batt by a 4-3 vote. And I prepared to write the editorial. However, Peck lobbied for a second vote, with the whole board available. I can’t remember which two board members had missed the original vote. But, on the following day, they both supported EchoHawk in the do-over vote. So we endorsed EchoHawk 5-4.

EchoHawk, who entered fall 1994 with a double-digit poll lead, lost to Batt by 34,760 votes, in a four-way race that also included independent Ron Rankin, the property tax activist from Coeur d’Alene. Batt went on to become a strong, one-term governor who forced the Idaho Legislature to extend workers’ compensation to farmworkers and negotiated a deal that limited N-waste storage in Idaho.

And, like the elephant who symbolizes his political party, he never forgot the endorsement snub. Full column here.