Idaho Democratic Party Explained

Idaho Democratic Party
Chairperson:Lauren Necochea
Leader1 Title:Senate Minority Leader
Leader1 Name:Melissa Wintrow
Leader2 Title:House Minority Leader
Leader2 Name:Ilana Rubel
Founded:1860s
Headquarters:Boise, Idaho
Membership Year:2024
Membership: 125,989[1]
Ideology:Modern liberalism
National:Democratic Party
Colors: Blue
Seats1 Title:Seats in the U.S. Senate
Seats2 Title:Seats in the United States House of Representatives
Seats3 Title:Seats in the Idaho Senate
Seats4 Title:Seats in the Idaho House of Representatives
State:Idaho

The Idaho Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Idaho.

While the party has been in the minority for most of the state's history, it has produced several notable public figures, including former U.S. senator Frank Church and former governor and secretary of the interior Cecil Andrus. Trade union support has traditionally been a key component of Democratic success in Idaho.[2]

History

Created in 1863 after the discovery of new mining territory, the early Idaho Territory was heavily populated by settlers from western Oregon, California and Nevada who supported a radical Republican agenda. However, towards the end of the war, Idaho became flooded with Confederate refugees from states like Missouri who voted, like the miners in Idaho, heavily Democratic. The state became a Democratic stronghold for the next two decades.[3]

At the dawn of statehood, despite ceding Idaho almost entirely four years earlier to the Populists and Republicans (Cleveland won only 2 popular votes in 1892), a fusion Populist/Democratic ticket behind William Jennings Bryan's candidacy won the state with 78.1% of the vote with the support from Silver Republicans. Nevertheless, the three– man congressional delegation remained two-part Populist, one-part Republican.

It was not until the turn of the century that Idaho saw its first Democratic representation in Congress, Senator Fred Dubois, U.S. Marshal of the Idaho Territory and a former Republican. He successfully campaigned on the disenfranchisement of Mormons on the grounds that they broke the law by practicing polygamy, already having barred them form holding office while he held office in the state legislature. Ironically, while his anti– Mormonism as a Republican kept Democrats out of office after 1882, his anti-Mormonism as a Democrat had the same result after 1902.

Though Democrats and Jewish governor Moses Alexander were able to implement a radically progressive agenda with the backing of the Nonpartisan League while in control during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, they quickly ceded power and it was not until Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1932 landslide that they began to turn out state and local (as well as national) Republican office holders for a sustained period of time. That year, all three congressional Republicans up for re– election were defeated by Democratic challengers by at least 11 percent. All three challengers, like their state party, were stalwart supporters of FDR's New Deal. Despite a turn of opinion against the federal government's programs years later, Democrats retained two of their three newly attained seats for at least 15 years and managed to control the legislature for eight until the chambers evened themselves out during and immediately after the war.

Decline

In the post-war decades, as state politics was professionalized, Republicans dominated the state legislature and the governor's mansion, but Democrats maintained a steadfast presence across all other executive offices. A platform of environmental concerns gave Idaho its last Democratic governor to date even as it became more conservative in its congressional delegation and state legislature. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, Democrats lost two key voting groups. After the national party adopted a host of liberal social issues like abortion rights and feminism, Idaho's Mormons left the party in droves. Meanwhile, unions lost influence in already declining mining and timber industries.[4]

Since 1994, when four-term Democratic governor Cecil Andrus retired and Representative Larry LaRocco was defeated, only one member of the party, Walt Minnick, has won either statewide office or election to Congress; after winning election to the latter capacity in 2008, Minnick was subsequently defeated for re-election by Republican Raúl Labrador two years later. Idaho Democrats currently seat only twelve members of the state House and six members of the state Senate, slightly worse than the ~20% they held in each chamber in 1996 when the party first collapsed. Unlike with other Mountain West states, such as Nevada and Colorado, immigration has not shifted Idaho leftward. Rather, Californians and other West Coast residents who have moved there have done so largely for cultural instead of economic reasons.[5]

Elected officials

Members of Congress

Statewide offices

Legislative leadership

Municipal

The following Democrats hold prominent mayoralties in Idaho:

Chairs

Election results

Presidential

Idaho Democratic Party presidential election results!Election!Presidential Ticket!Votes!Vote %!Electoral votes!Result
1892State party endorsed James B. Weaver/James G. Field (Populist)N/AN/A
1896William Jennings Bryan/Arthur Sewall23,13578.10%
1900William Jennings Bryan/Adlai E. Stevenson29,41450.79%
1904Alton B. Parker/Henry G. Davis18,48025.46%
1908William Jennings Bryan/John W. Kern36,16237.17%
1912Woodrow Wilson/Thomas R. Marshall33,92132.08%
1916Woodrow Wilson/Thomas R. Marshall70,05452.04%
1920James M. Cox/Franklin D. Roosevelt46,57934.34%
1924John W. Davis/Charles W. Bryan24,25616.36%
1928Al Smith/Joseph T. Robinson52,92634.93%
1932Franklin D. Roosevelt/John N. Garner109,47958.66%
1936Franklin D. Roosevelt/John N. Garner125,68362.96%
1940Franklin D. Roosevelt/Henry A. Wallace127,84254.36%
1944Franklin D. Roosevelt/Harry S. Truman107,39951.55%
1948Harry S. Truman/Alben W. Barkley107,37049.98%
1952Adlai Stevenson/John Sparkman95,08134.42%
1956Adlai Stevenson/Estes Kefauver105,86838.78%
1960John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson138,85346.22%
1964Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey148,92050.92%
1968Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie89,27330.66%
1972George McGovern/Sargent Shriver80,82626.04%
1976Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale126,54937.12%
1980Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale110,19225.19%
1984Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro108,51026.39%
1988Michael Dukakis/Lloyd Bentsen147,27236.01%
1992Bill Clinton/Al Gore137,01328.42%
1996Bill Clinton/Al Gore165,44333.65%
2000Al Gore/Joe Lieberman138,63727.64%
2004John Kerry/John Edwards181,09830.26%
2008Barack Obama/Joe Biden236,44035.91%
2012Barack Obama/Joe Biden212,78732.40%
2016Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine189,76527.48%
2020Joe Biden/Kamala Harris287,02133.07%

Gubernatorial

Idaho Democratic Party gubernatorial election results!Election!Gubernatorial candidate!Votes!Vote %!Result
1890Benjamin Wilson7,948 43.65%Lost
1892John M. Burke6,76933.72%Lost
1894Edward A. Stevenson7,05728.70%Lost
1896Frank Steunenberg22,09676.79%Won
1898Frank Steunenberg19,40748.83%Won
1900Frank W. Hunt28,62850.87%Won
1902Frank W. Hunt26,02143.18%Lost
1904Henry Heitfeld24,25234.02%Lost
1906Charles Stockslager29,49640.09%Lost
1908Moses Alexander40,14541.61%Lost
1910James H. Hawley40,85647.42%Won
1912James H. Hawley33,99232.22%Lost
1914Moses Alexander47,61844.13%Won
1916Moses Alexander63,87747.49%Won
1918H. F. Samuels38,49940.05%Lost
1920Ted A. Walters38,50926.93%Lost
1922Moses Alexander36,81028.79%Lost
1924A. L. Freehafer25,08116.82%Lost
1926Asher B. Wilson24,83720.59%Lost
1928C. Ben Ross63,04641.58%Lost
1930C. Ben Ross73,89656.03%Won
1932C. Ben Ross116,66361.73%Won
1934C. Ben Ross93,31354.58%Won
1936Barzilla W. Clark115,09857.19%Won
1938C. Ben Ross77,69741.89%Lost
1940Chase A. Clark120,42050.48%Won
1942Chase A. Clark71,82649.85%Lost
1944Charles C. Gossett109,52752.64%Won
1946Arnold Williams79,13143.63%Lost
1950Calvin E. Wright97,15047.44%Lost
1954Clark Hamilton104,64745.76%Lost
1958Alfred M. Derr117,23649.04%Lost
1962Vernon K. Smith115,87645.36%Lost
1966Cecil Andrus93,74437.11%Lost
1970Cecil Andrus128,00452.22%Won
1974Cecil Andrus184,14270.92%Won
1978John Evans169,54058.75%Won
1982John Evans165,36550.64%Won
1986Cecil Andrus193,42949.9%Won
1990Cecil Andrus218,67368.21%Won
1994Larry Echo Hawk181,36343.88%Lost
1998Robert C. Huntley110,81529.07%Lost
2002Jerry Brady171,71141.73%Lost
2006Jerry Brady198,84544.11%Lost
2010Keith G. Allred148,68032.85%Lost
2014A.J. Balukoff169,55638.55%Lost
2018Paulette Jordan231,08138.19%Lost
2022Stephen Heidt120,16020.03%Lost

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Voter Registration Totals . July 22, 2024 . Ballot Access News.
  2. News: Idaho unions: A history of conflict. 2014-12-04. Post Register. 2017-09-08. en.
  3. Web site: Idaho Political Periods . Boise, Idaho . . 1976 . 26 February 2017.
  4. Web site: How Idaho Became A One Party State . Boise, Idaho . . 13 May 2014 . 26 February 2017.
  5. Web site: How right-wing emigrants conquered North Idaho . . . 20 May 2013 . 26 February 2017.
  6. Web site: Tribune. Fred Cornforth named the new chairman of Idaho Democratic Party. 2021-08-09. The Lewiston Tribune. en.
  7. Web site: IDP elects new Party Chair, Van Beechler. 2019-03-21. Idaho Democratic Party. en-US. 2019-03-24. 2020-09-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20200923090951/https://idahodems.org/idp-elects-new-party-chair-van-beechler/. dead.
  8. News: Bert Marley: New IDP Chairman - Idaho Democratic Party. 2015-08-01. Idaho Democratic Party. 2017-05-01. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20161124024800/http://idahodems.org/news/bert-marley-new-idp-chairman/. 2016-11-24. dead.
  9. News: Larry Kenck, Idaho State Democratic chairman, will step down. idahostatesman. 2017-05-01. en.
  10. Web site: Keith Roark elected Idaho Democratic Party chairman 43rd State Blues: Democracy for Idaho. www.43rdstateblues.com. en. 2017-05-01.
  11. News: Election 2012: Larry Grant, Chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party - Idaho Democratic Party. 2012-11-07. Idaho Democratic Party. 2017-05-01. en-US.
  12. Web site: Same Name, Different Face: Two Larry's, One Democratic Party. Prentice. George. Boise Weekly. 2017-05-01.
  13. News: Idaho Democratic Party selects Post Falls native as new chairman. OregonLive.com. 2017-05-01. en-US.
  14. News: Bannock County Democrats to host Richard Stallings Banquet. release. Idaho Democratic Party press. Idaho State Journal. 2017-05-01. en.
  15. Web site: Richard Stallings Resigns as State Democratic Party Chair. https://web.archive.org/web/20080801095828/http://www.kidk.com/news/local/12755707.html. 2008-08-01. dead.
  16. Wayne Hoffman, Staff. "Voters to Have Lots of Choices in Primary." Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID), 2002, p. 01.
  17. Popkey, Dan. "Democrats See Frank Walker as Key to Rebuilding." Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID), 2000, p. 01B.
  18. Web site: Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Google News Archive Search. news.google.com. 2017-05-01.
  19. Web site: Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Google News Archive Search. news.google.com. 2017-05-01.
  20. Web site: The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search. news.google.com. 2017-05-01.
  21. Web site: Mel Morgan's Obituary on Idaho State Journal. Idaho State Journal. 2017-05-01.
  22. Web site: Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Google News Archive Search. news.google.com. 2017-05-01.
  23. News: Hillary Clinton announces her Idaho campaign leadership. idahostatesman. 2017-09-20. en.
  24. News: Minnick A Populist Millionaire Ex-Nixon Aide, Ceo Comfortable On Top, Bottom Floors Of Factory. Spokesman.com. 2017-09-20. en.
  25. Web site: 2013-11-01. Former IDP Chair Conley Ward Passed Away This Week. 2020-08-09. Idaho Democratic Party. en-US.
  26. News: When Gov. Evans wanted a new chairman, he got one (w/ video). idahostatesman. 2017-09-20. en.
  27. News: George Matthew Klein. The Lewiston Tribune. 2017-09-20. en.
  28. Web site: About John F. Greenfield Law John F. Greenfield Law Offices. johngreenfieldlaw.com. en-US. 2017-09-20.
  29. News: When a past Idaho governor wanted his own state party chairman, he got him.... Spokesman.com. 2017-09-20. en.
  30. News: John F. Greenfield, Of Counsel. 2012-10-02. The Huntley Law Firm, PLLC. 2017-09-20. en-US.
  31. Web site: Idaho Democratic Delegation 2008. www.thegreenpapers.com. 2017-09-20.
  32. News: ANONYMOUS FLIER RAISES SUSPICIONS. Wickline. Michael. The Lewiston Tribune. 2017-09-20. en.
  33. Web site: March 11, 2016 Press Release Hillary for Idaho Announces Leadership Council. www.p2016.org. en. 2017-09-20.
  34. News: Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, Idaho, June 25, 1972, Page 2. Newspapers.com. 2018-06-18. en.
  35. Web site: Lewiston Morning Tribune - Google News Archive Search. 2021-10-10. news.google.com.