Otter appoints Gayle Batt to complete Rep. Takasugi’s term in House
Gov. Butch Otter has appointed Gayle Batt of Wilder to complete the Idaho House term of state Rep. Pat Takasugi, who died after a three-year battle against cancer of the appendix. Batt was Takasugi's choice to fill in for him in the last legislative session, when his health prevented him from attending the session.
“I have known Gayle for years, and I know her to be a keen student of public policy and the legislative process," Otter said in a statement. "She knows her county, her district and her state exceedingly well, and I have great confidence that she will continue to be an exemplary member of the Idaho Legislature.”
Batt was Takasugi's campaign manager in both 2008 and 2010, and is a former president of the Food Producers of Idaho and the Canyon County Republican Women. Click below for the governor's full announcement.
C.L. “Butch” Otter
GOVERNOR
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 18, 2011
GAYLE BATT APPOINTED TO IDAHO
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
(BOISE) – Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter today appointed Gayle Batt of Wilder to the Idaho House of Representatives District 10 Seat A vacancy left by the recent death of State Representative Pat Takasugi.
While Representative Takasugi was battling cancer, and at his request, Batt has been representing the people of Canyon County’s District 10 in the Idaho Legislature since January 2011. She served on the House Business, State Affairs and Agriculture committees during the 2011 session, and the Republican Legislative District Committee for District 10 made her one of its three nominees to succeed Representative Takasugi.
“I am fully prepared to voice the conservative Idaho values that our District and community hold dear,” Batt wrote in a letter to Governor Otter seeking the appointment. “I am a driven, principled leader, who maintains high expectations of both my work and self.”
“I have known Gayle for years, and I know her to be a keen student of public policy and the legislative process. She knows her county, her district and her state exceedingly well, and I have great confidence that she will continue to be an exemplary member of the Idaho Legislature,” Governor Otter said.
Batt has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management from Oregon State University. She has been heavily involved in farming, ranching, natural resources, irrigation and other water issues for many years, and was Representative Takasugi’s campaign manager as he ran for the Legislature in 2008 and 2010. She is a former president of the Food Producers of Idaho and the Canyon County Republican Women.
In a letter endorsing Batt’s nomination, House Speaker Lawerence Denney said, “Gayle has integrity, initiative, the ability to work well with people of differing opinions, and possesses strong principles and discipline.”
