District 16B House Endorsement

District 16 House Republicans face a choice between 3 candidates: Elizabeth Hodge, Ormond Howell, and Ralph Perez. All three would certainly be more conservative than the last Republican to occupy the seat, Jana Kemp (from 2005-06) and an improvement over retiring incumbent Les Bock (D).

Howell is the easiest candidate to eliminate from a conservative perspective. While he takes many conservative stances such as his opposition to spending more money on Pre-K, several red flags stand out in Howell’s material:

1) Opposition to Education Reform in the most extreme language: Howell tells the Cornerstone Institute of Idaho that School Choice should be opposed lest parents send their kids to a Nazi-Skinhead school and that anyone who thinks homeschoolers are able to teach their kids without government-mandated testing.  I would be interested how he explained his opposition to Merit Pay and ending teacher tenure to the Gem State Voter Guide. He told the Statesman that he had better plan than merit pay though he didn’t specify what it was was.

2) Support for Otter’s registration fee increase: Increasing the registration fee on all cars to $155 was a non-starter. We need a better plan.

3) Among people he lists as admired Idaho politicians is Senator Gary Schroeder (R-6) who had a 30% Idaho Conservative Rating. Eek.

The other two candidates are harder to figure out. Ralph Perez is type of Republican that could win 16. His experience as a city councilman in Garden City make him an intriguing candidate. However, Perez has focused a lot on local planning issues in his career. He has some intriguing ideas. However, on many issues raised by various voter guides, seems undecided on important issues including State Funding for Pre-K, Local Option Sales Tax, Closed Primaries, Day Care Regulations, No Fault Divorce, etc. Perez is a cipher. Good leadership has to be prepared not only to advocate for what you want, but also to address the concerns of all the citizens in your district. Perez hasn’t convinced me he’s done the necessary homework yet to belong in the State Legislature and conservatives who back him are taking a gamble that on issues that matter to them he’ll end up on the right side.  

Elizabeth Allan Hodge impresses with her clear conservative principles. While I don’t agree with every answer she provided, I think she has a clearly discernible conservative compass.

Hodge is opposed to expensive pre-K programs, in support of closed primaries, and strongly pro-life. In a 3-way field, she’s clearly a choice Conservatives can trust.  

In addition, as a former legislator, Hodge knows what it’ll take to get elected this Fall. Thus, if I still lived in District 16, she’d have my vote.