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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Candidates spar over array of issues

Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, right, speaks during a debate with GOP rival Raul Labrador, left, at the Boise City Club on Thursday (Betsy Russell)
Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, right, speaks during a debate with GOP rival Raul Labrador, left, at the Boise City Club on Thursday (Betsy Russell)

1st District rivals Walt Minnick and Raul Labrador have sparred over immigration, cutting the deficit, and effectiveness in Congress so far in their Boise City Club debate. They mostly agreed on the war in Afghanistan, though Labrador took that opportunity to say he's publicly praised Minnick's military service and Minnick's only lied about his views on veterans.

Asked about campaign finances and the Citizens United court decision, Labrador said, "I think everybody should be able to give whatever amount of money they want to give for a campaign, but it should be disclosed ... within 24 hours so the public gets to know who's supporting whom and where the money's coming from." Minnick said, "I think the Citizens United decision was the worst decision of the Supreme Court since Dred Scot ... to ignore the distinction between a real person and an artificial creation of law. .. We need to ... have spending limits, we need to have shorter campaigns, we need to have equal access to the public media, we need to repeal or overturn Citizens United, it is a bad decision."



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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