District 21 Republican Chair Rebuked for Primary Letter

Idaho State Republican Chairman Norm Semanko has rebuked Steven Ricks, the Republican chair of District 21, for sending out a letter before May’s primary that some people believe affected the results of the primary and caused the loss of one of the incumbent House representatives in our district.

“Because this letter is so widely distributed, I fear it may fall into Democrat hands, who would use it against our Republican candidates in the General Election,” said Semanko’s letter—which was dated September 16 but was mailed to all voting residents of District 21 on December 16. “Hopefully, my fears will prove unfounded.”

Ricks, as well as being the chair of the district, was also one of the primary challengers supported in the letter, which was sent out over the names of Republican precinct committeemen in the district. The letter -- which was identical regardless of the person who signed it --  noted that it was “gladly paid for” by the Ricks campaign. Ricks unsuccessfully ran against incumbent state Senator Russ Fulcher.

Boise conservative Bryan Fischer blogged about the letter on May 29, blaming it for the loss of incumbent John Vander Woude in the primary to challenger Richard Jarvis. “In the last week of the primary campaign, a form letter, written on official party letterhead, was mailed widely in District 21, arriving in mailboxes on Wednesday or Thursday, and giving the distinct impression that the Republican Party had officially endorsed the challengers in those hotly contested races.”

“No less than three times the incumbents are smeared in this letter as members of the “good old boy” network and the reader is bludgeoned no less than nine times — nine! — with the phrase “special interests” to imply that it was the party’s official position that Fulcher, Bayer and Vander Woude are in the bag for powerful lobbyists,” Fischer went on to say.

“[T]he Idaho Republican Party has a long-standing policy of abstaining from endorsing candidates in the primary,” Semanko said in his September 17 letter. “Your actions caused some voters to believe the state party had taken the extraordinary step of rescinding this policy, which was not the case.”

Fischer also cited the letter as evidence that the Republican State Chairman at the time, Kirk Sullivan, should be deposed in favor of Semanko at the Republican state convention in June (which did indeed happen). “Sullivan’s failure to take decisive clarifying action likely cost John Vander Woude his seat in the legislature,” he said.

(First reported on the New West blog.)

District 21 Legislators Get Committee Assignments

District 21 legislators received committee assignments today, laying the way for the upcoming legislative session.

House representative Cliff Bayer continues his membership on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), which handles budgeting; in addition, he is on the Business and Local Government committees. 

Major issues for JFAC are, of course, continuing to provide state services within the economic limitations we currently have.  The Business Committee handles banking and insurance issues; local government covers city/county issues and taxing districts.

Newcomer Rich Jarvis was assigned only to two committees, Business and Transportation & Defense.  As an insurance agent himself, it will be interesting to see which perspective he chooses to bring to the business committee: that of the insurance industry, or that of the citizen. 

Major issues for the Transportation Committee are fuel taxes, state and local highways, and motor vehicle issues -- such as how much your gas tax will be, road building and maintenance, and how much your auto registration will be.

It's interesting that Jarvis wasn't put on the education committee, since his first platform point was "improve the quality of education," and his endorsement interview with the Statesman suggested making high school graduation mandatory -- though he wasn't specific about just how high schools were supposed to enforce this. (Incidentally, he did not receive the Statesman endorsement.)

State Senator Russ Fulcher is also on only two committees. Like Bayer, he continues his membership on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee; in addition, he is vice-chair of the Education Committee.

Fulcher also attempted to challenge Assistant Majority Leader Joe Stegner (Lewiston) for his leadership position, but was unsuccessful. As was pointed out in the Boise Weekly, we know this only through reports, because this was held during the Republican caucus, which is closed, unlike the Democratic caucus, which is open to the public. 

Committees where District 21 has no representation on either the House or Senate side include Agricultural Affairs, Resources & Conservation, Revenue & Taxation, and State Affairs. The seven committee assignments shared by the three legislators cover only five committees.