Idaho Democratic Party

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.

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 Civil 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.

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.

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.

Elected officials

Members of Congress None

Statewide offices None

Legislative leadership Senate Minority Leader: Melissa Wintrow Assistant Senate Minority Leader: James Ruchti Senate Minority Caucus Chair: Janie Ward– Engelking House Minority Leader: Ilana Rubel Assistant House Minority Leader: Lauren Necochea House Minority Caucus Chair: Ned Burns

Municipal

The following Democrats hold prominent mayoralties in Idaho:

Boise: Lauren McLean (1)

Chairs Lauren Necochea Deborah Silver Fred Cornworth Evangeline "Van" Beechler Bert Marley Larry Kenck R. Keith Roark Larry Grant Richard H. Stallings Carolyn BoyceWayne Hoffman, Staff. "Voters to Have Lots of Choices in Primary." Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID), 2002, p. 01. Kathie GarrettPopkey, Dan. "Democrats See Frank Walker as Key to Rebuilding." Idaho Statesman, The (Boise, ID), 2000, p. 01B. Bill Mauk Mel Morgan A. K. Lienhart– Minnick Conley Ward, 1988–1991 George Klein 1978 John F. Greenfield 1976–77 A. W. "Bill" Brunt 1952–1954 John G. Walters 1958 John Glasby George A. Greenfield 1954– 1955 Gilbert Larsen ?–1952 Ed P. Brennan 1949 Dan J. Cavanagh 1947–1948 David L. Bush 1944–1946 Ben W. Davis 1939 Ira H. Taylor 1937 T. A. Walters 1931 Edwin M. Holden 1930 L. E. Dillingham 1925–1929 Dr. W. R. Hamilton ?–1918 Joseph T. Pence 1914 Ben R. Gray 1912 John F. Nugent Kirtland I. Perky 1900–1902 George Ainslie 1890–1891 Wayne P. Fuller 1979–1980

Election results

Presidential +Idaho Democratic Party presidential election resultsElectionPresidential TicketVotesVote %Electoral votesResult1892State party endorsed James B. Weaver/James G. Field (Populist)N/AN/A1896William 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%2024Kamala Harris/Tim Walz274,97230.38%

Gubernatorial +Idaho Democratic Party gubernatorial election resultsElectionGubernatorial candidateVotesVote %Result1890Benjamin 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 Heidt120,16020.28%Lost

Idaho Democratic Party

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