Phil Batt: Brad Little is the best candidate for my former job

Public service might run in Brad Little’s family, but politics was never a vocation for him – much less a career. Brad was mainly concerned with farming and ranching until he was appointed to fill an Idaho Senate vacancy in 2001.

Since then, the voters have expressed their trust by electing him to lieutenant governor. Now I hope voters will join me in electing him to be Idaho’s next Republican governor. Over the years he earned a reputation for being honest and trustworthy. He became known as a hard worker who handled many tough assignments for Idahoans without ever seeking credit or publicity. Our Founding Fathers believed in citizen participation and statesmanship. It’s just what good citizens do. That’s what Brad has and will continue to do.

I served in the Idaho Senate with Brad’s father, Sen. Dave Little. He was the same kind of honest, hard-working man – a rancher who believed in the principle of stewardship and was always ready to help improve Idaho’s laws for the public good.

For some candidates, being conservative these days seems to mean talking a lot about individual freedom while ignoring public responsibility. Brad is a true conservative who knows the importance of balancing a budget, providing tax relief and maintaining the lightest possible hand of government in the lives of our citizens. But he also recognizes the need and state government’s responsibility for building and maintaining a first-class education system and a transportation infrastructure that meets the demands of our rapidly growing state.

One of my goals as governor was reducing the number of state employees. We didn’t fire anyone except for cause, but we didn’t hire any new state employees either unless absolutely necessary. At the end of my term we maintained a state workforce that employed fewer than when we started. One of my stalwart advisers, in that and other matters, was Brad Little.

Brad was a conservative then and has continued to be a conservative throughout his service as lieutenant governor – repeatedly turning back part of his office’s annual operating budget.

There’s a lot of campaign talk this year from candidates who seem to think a governor can act alone to implement big public policy changes, or who willingly suspend the laws of common sense in pursuit of ideological purity. By contrast, Brad Little knows that successfully governing a state requires a team approach. It’s a refreshing measure of true leadership that Brad works effectively with people from all parts of the political spectrum to accomplish important goals.

We are fortunate in Idaho to have such a qualified and dedicated candidate for governor.

I am an enthusiastic booster for Brad! I urge you to join me in voting Brad Little for governor in the Republican primary election on May 15.

Phil Batt was governor of Idaho from 1995-1999.