Lawmakers vie for House posts

The election may be over, but two North Idaho lawmakers are still fighting for votes.

They’re angling for leadership positions in the Idaho House – responsibilities that help shape the top priorities for the 2007 session.

Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, is battling for the assistant majority leader position, the No. 3 spot behind the speaker of the house and the majority leader.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Post Falls, is seeking the No. 4 post as caucus chairman.

It’s been more than a decade since a lawmaker from the five northern counties held a position of power within the majority party of the House. Rep. Tom Boyd, R-Genesee, was speaker until 1992, but many people consider Genesee more central Idaho than part of the Panhandle.

Post Falls became the battleground this week for enigmatic leadership campaigns within the Republican-controlled House, including who will land the all-powerful speaker title held by retiring Rep. Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley.

Rep. Lawerence Denney, a farmer from Midvale and majority leader, is vying against Rep. Bill Deal, a Nampa Republican in the insurance business. Legislators say the speaker’s race is close between Denney, regarded as a conservative, and Deal, a centrist. Yet it’s difficult to say for sure because lawmakers often pledge support for both candidates, making the already elusive campaigns even more difficult to predict.

It’s been eight years since the top four House majority posts have opened up, turning the annual North Idaho Legislative Tour into a behind-the-scenes opportunity for candidates to politick and jockey for votes from fellow Republicans.

The entire process is secretive and usually considered too insider for the general voter to give any notice. But lawmakers agree leadership races are key to setting the tone for the session that begins in January and dictating which bills become priorities.

This was the last opportunity for all House members to gather before they vote by secret ballot Dec. 6 in Boise for who will lead the House. House Democrats won’t have much change with only the minority caucus chairman job open. It’s expected that Assistant Minority Leader George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, will keep his title. Few changes also are expected in Senate leadership for both the majority and minority.

Most of the Idaho legislators attended the three-day event that ended Tuesday. Lawmakers spent their days on tour buses that stopped at sites to give them – especially those from southern and eastern Idaho – an understanding of the Panhandle and its changing economy. They saw Coeur d’Alene’s and Post Falls’ former waterfront lumber mills transformed into high-end condos and retail shops. And they saw improvements to U.S. Highway 95, which North Idaho lawmakers push as a funding priority every year.

But the real business was firming up votes. Hushed conversations happened anywhere a candidate could get a few seconds, whether it was a corner of the St. Maries Eagles Club or the parking lot of the Wellness Center on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation. Lawmakers lingered over cocktails at Templins Red Lion Hotel, the headquarters of the tour. Seat-hopping was prevalent on the tour buses, where candidates could easily buttonhole colleagues.

Lobbyists also attend the tour, encouraging lawmakers to vote for leadership candidates most likely to support their agenda.

“The focus is to get ironclad commitments out of people,” said former Sen. Kermit Kiebert, D-Hope, who helps organize the annual tour sponsored by the North Idaho Chamber of Commerce.

Kiebert said a lot of promises are made for leadership votes, especially by speaker candidates who appoint lawmakers to committees and award them chairmanships. It’s this jockeying that made it the largest tour in memory, he said. “There’s a lot of politicking going on all the time,” he said.

So who is going to win the speaker title and the three other leadership spots? That’s not for the general public to know.

Most lawmakers, including the North Idaho delegation, were mum on who they support because they said too much is at stake. They fear losing coveted committee chairmanships and assignments if they offend the incoming speaker by openly campaigning against him or her.

The North Idaho lawmakers wouldn’t even comment on whether they support Clark’s and Nonini’s bids. But each said it’s important for North Idaho, especially with its growing population, to have a voice in setting the tone of the session.

They also agreed it’s just as important, if not more so, to obtain more chairmanships of committees and positions on the powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. And to do that, they must stay in favor with the new speaker, whoever it might be.

“What’s important is the JFAC and the committee chairmanships,” said an unusually coy Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, while strolling the hallways Monday of the Benewah Community Hospital in St. Maries. “That’s where there’s real influence on the final decision.”

The leadership races began months ago, soon after Speaker Newcomb announced his retirement. Candidates began lobbying colleagues for votes and giving money to their re-election campaigns.

Clark, known as a bulldog and maverick, is challenging Rep. Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, for the assistant minority leader position. Clark began his campaign in March with the unusual tactic of traveling to the homes of lawmakers who live on the east side of the state. He made five trips.

“I’ve been to Bone, Idaho,” Clark proudly said of his trip to see Rep. Tom Loertscher, a Republican who farms a large expanse of land between Idaho Falls and the Targhee National Forest.

Clark said this week’s tour is about convincing the 11 newly elected House members to vote for him instead of Bedke, a rancher from near the Utah-Nevada border known as one of the masterminds on the appropriations committee.

In a surprise during the closed-door GOP caucus meeting Sunday night, Nonini announced his interest in challenging Rep. Ken Roberts, of McCall, for caucus chairman. He said North Idaho needs a leadership spot and that no candidate should go unchallenged. Some lawmakers bristled that Nonini hadn’t said anything previously. Yet Nonini was cautious, saying he was only considering seeking the position.

Rep. Mike Moyle, of Star, is the only openly acknowledged candidate for majority leader. Moyle is the current assistant majority leader.

Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, said he will vote for whoever has the best vision for property tax reform. “I want whoever will help solve our problems,” he said, flashing a big grin. “How’s that for an answer.”