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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Candidates draw lots before tonight’s gubernatorial debate

Gubernatorial candidates A.J. Balukoff, John Bujak and incumbent Butch Otter draw lots to determine the order of speaking at Thursday night's debate; Idaho Public TV Executive Producer Bruce Reichert, left, provided his vintage white cowboy hat to draw from. (Idaho Public Television / Aaron Kunz)
Gubernatorial candidates A.J. Balukoff, John Bujak and incumbent Butch Otter draw lots to determine the order of speaking at Thursday night's debate; Idaho Public TV Executive Producer Bruce Reichert, left, provided his vintage white cowboy hat to draw from. (Idaho Public Television / Aaron Kunz)

Prior to the start of tonight's final debate in the governor's race, the candidates - Gov. Butch Otter, Libertarian John Bujak and Democrat A.J. Balukoff - drew to determine the order for their opening and closing remarks; Bruce Reichert, executive producer at Idaho Public TV, used his vintage white cowboy hat to hold the lots. Tonight's debate runs 90 minutes and starts at 7 p.m. I'm on the reporter panel, along with Kevin Richert of Idaho Education News and Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman; Melissa Davlin of Idaho Public TV is the moderator.

Tonight's gubernatorial debate will be followed by the lieutenant governor debate between incumbent Brad Little and Democratic challenger Bert Marley. Check here later for links to full coverage of both debates. 



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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