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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

A different kind of party candidate…

Keith Allred announces Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 at Twin Falls High School that he will be running for the democratic nomination for governor in Twin Falls, Idaho. (AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith) (Ashley Smith / AP Photo/The Times-News)
Keith Allred announces Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 at Twin Falls High School that he will be running for the democratic nomination for governor in Twin Falls, Idaho. (AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith) (Ashley Smith / AP Photo/The Times-News)

Perhaps the oddest thing about Keith Allred, the newly announced Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho, is that he's not a Democrat. He's not a Republican either.    Instead, the 45-year-old former Harvard professor and expert mediator is a passionate advocate for a grand experiment in returning the nation to its founders' vision of government by the people, in ways that involve ordinary citizens in policy-making and skirt the special interests, including political parties. "I'm turned off by the extremes of both parties," he said. "As a voter, I have been a committed and proud ticket-splitter all my life." You can read my full story here at spokesman.com; Allred launched his campaign today with an announcement in Twin Falls.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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