District 21 Endorsements

Sometimes endorsements come down to purely ideological measures such as who is ideologically most conservative. Sometimes the race comes down to issues of character and honesty.

In District 21, the legislature is well-represented by two strong conservatives in Senator Russ Fulcher and Representative Cliff Bayer.  Both Fulcher and Bayer posted 100% conservative voting records this past session, and both have very conservative career voting records (97% for Fulcher and 95%  for Bayer.)

In addition, to being conservative, Fulcher and Bayer have proved themselves to be reliable leaders. Fulcher carried a Parental Consent bill and Bayer has been a leader in the fight to increase the grocery tax credit. Fulcher has even won a place in the Senate Republican leadership, a welcome change given that the leadership of the State Senate had been either liberal (Joe Stegner) or squish (Bart Davis and Brad Little.)

Why would conservatives want these two men gone?

Leading the charge is Steve Ricks, a man who nearly defeated Senator Fulcher in the 2008 Republican Primary. He’s running again, along with Thomas Dayley who is challenging Bayer. A member of Ricks slate, Rep. Rick Jarvis knocked off freshman Rep. John Vanderwoude (R-21) and they are facing off in a rematch, and being joined by Michael Roy.

I cannot say the Ricks’ slate is not conservative, I can say that the members of the slate are not as conservative as the people they are challenging. In his two years in the State Legislature, Rep. Jarvis has racked up an 85% Conservative voting record. Not bad, until you consider that Rep. Vanderwoude had a 100% conservative voting record in his two years in the state legislature.

On tax increases, Mr. Dayley refuses to rule them out, telling the Idaho Statesman, “Raising taxes in any way would need to be reviewed vary carefully, particularly in our current economic situation.” And says, they would need to be “very carefully reviewed” several times. While Cliff Bayer supports the goal of reducing income and property tax, Mr. Dayley again insists that any tax cut must be “very carefully reviewed” and gives the weak-kneed answer that “many economists accept that lowering taxes is a good way to stimulate the economy” without indicating any preference for his own belief.

Perhaps tellingly, both Ricks and Dayley make the point that if elected, much of their work next session will be spent on getting up to speed.  Of his two three priorities, the first two are that Ricks wants to “establish himself ” as an elected official that does his homework as well as proving that he can be relied on to represent people in the district as “individuals and families.” His third is to be true to his values. However, Senator Fulcher has already provied an ability to do his homework on bills, that he is an able representative, and that he stands by the values he holds dear. There is no rational reason to replace the Republican Caucus Chair with a freshman Senator.

The same thing applies to Mr. Dayley who would like to “establish regular electronic communication with constituents” and build working relationships with legislators. Again, Cliff Bayer has done that already and there’s no reason to start from square one.

I give Rep. Jarvis credit for the cheesiest answers yet on the Idaho Statesman voter guide, including the State Farm jingle.  While Bayer and Fulcher have done heavy lifting in the legislature, Jarvis has taken on lighter work such as a bill to recognize the giant salamander as the state amphibian. 

Despite the fact that Vanderwoude is slightly more conservative than Jarvis, I’d still support Jarvis as an incumbent with a relatively conservative voting record. However, the way that Jarvis won election in 2008 and how Ricks almost defeated Russ Fulcher leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Ricks sent out a misleading mailer:

Last week, a form letter, written on official party letterhead, was mailed widely in District 21, arriving in mailboxes on Wednesday or Thursday, and giving the distinct impression that the Republican Party had officially endorsed the challengers in those hotly contested races.

No less than three times the incumbents are smeared as members of the “good old boy” network and the reader is bludgeoned no less than nine times – nine! – with the phrase “special interests” to imply that it was the party’s official position that Fulcher, Bayer and Vander Woude are in the bag for powerful lobbyists.

Although each letter was identical in content, different committeemen signed them, apparently sending the letters to party members in their own precincts, thus giving the impression that they had written the letter themselves. According to the note at the bottom of each letter, the mailing was “gladly paid (for) by the Ricks for Senator Committee.”

In addition to this,  Ricks has been engaged as of a late in a lawsuit with conservative organizations including Idaho Chooses Life trying to gain access to internal correspondence on the race because these campaigns didn’t endorse him. In rejecting Ricks’ argument, Judge Hansen rightly called Ricks’ argument chilling.

Our country and state faces serious challenges. We have no need of politicians who run only for personal ambition and tear down good men doing good work to further their ambitions. We need political leaders who respect our rights, rather than trying to harm our right to freedom of association by suing conservative organizations. Conservatives owe their thanks for the consistent leadership of Senator Fulcher and Representative Bayer.

As for Representative Jarvis, with respect, I would urge voters in the 21st District to tell him to get out. Him and the horse he road in on. It is time to defeat the ambitious Ricks machine once and for all.

Both Michael Loy and John Vanderwoude are great conservatives. However, I believer Vanderwoude has a better shot of winning and will better be able to resume representing the people of District 21 with less of a learning curve thanks to his previous legislative experience, so he earns my endorsement along with my strong endorsement of Senator Fulcher and Representative Bayer.