A North Idaho senator's initial attempt to get his primary challenger tossed off the ballot has failed, but Sen. Mike Jorgenson says he's not giving up. Jorgenson, R-Hayden, last week filed a complaint with the Idaho Secretary of State's office saying that his GOP challenger, Steven Vick of Dalton Gardens, isn't qualified for the ballot because of a 2006 voter-registration glitch. Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said today that Vick meets registration requirements to run; Jorgenson now plans to take his complaint to court. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Vick told Eye on Boise he was recruited to run against Jorgenson by the two state representatives from Jorgenson's District 3: Reps. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, and Phil Hart, R-Athol. "They just felt like their district there would be better represented by somebody else than Sen. Jorgenson," said Vick, a former four-term Montana state representative.

Jorgenson has clashed with Clark and Hart in the past year, sponsoring legislation designed to open the way for future sales taxes on online sales that Clark made a point of killing in the House; and clashing with Hart over the two lawmakers' competing versions of bills targeting employment of illegal immigrants. "We've had some disagreements," Jorgenson said. Clark, who's retiring from the Legislature this year after seven terms, said, "Something has to happen. Look how he treats Phil Hart, 'the best thing I can say about him is nothing' - he said that in your paper. So what do you expect?"