Butch Otter

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Butch Otter
Butchotter.jpg
Governor of Idaho
Incumbent
In office
January 1, 2007 - Present
Term ends
January 5, 2015
Years in position 6
PartyRepublican
PredecessorJim Risch (R)
Compensation
Base salary$115,348
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 2, 2010
First electedNovember 7, 2006
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
Idaho House of Representatives
1972 - 1976
Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
1987 - 2001
U.S. House of Representatives
2001 - 2007
Education
Bachelor'sAlbertson College of Idaho
Personal
BirthdayMay 3, 1942
Place of birthCaldwell, Idaho
ReligionRoman Catholic
Websites
Office website

Contents

Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (b. May 3 1942, Caldwell, Idaho) has been Governor of Idaho since January 2007. He successfully ran for re-election in 2010 and has already announced he will seek a third term in 2014, silencing speculation that his current term would be his last.[1]

Otter previously represented the state's First Congressional District. He was also Lieutenant Governor of Idaho from 1987 to 2001. He is the first Idahoan since statehood to win election as both United States Representative and governor. Otter is the third Roman Catholic to serve as Governor of Idaho, and the first to win election as governor since James H. Hawley in 1910.[2]

Biography

Otter was born in Caldwell, ID on May 3, 1942. He attended Boise Junior College, now Boise State University, then earned his B.A. in political science from the College of Idaho in 1967. He served the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Armored Cavalry from 1968 to 1973. He received specialized training at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Otter's business experience includes spending 30 years with Simplot International, a potato, livestock and feeding operation. He eventually rose to that company's presidency.

Political Career

Governor of Idaho (2006-Present)

Otter was first elected Governor of Idaho in 2006 and won re-election in 2010. He is running for a third term in 2014.

As governor, Otter is responsible for appointing judges to Idaho state courts. In Idaho, the governor makes a judicial appointment. The nominee holds office for the remainder of the unexpired term. For an up-to-date list of all of Otter's appointees, see Judgepedia's page on his appointments.

Issues

Health insurance exchange

As Idaho moved to comply with the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act of 2010, Otter supported the creation of an Idaho healthcare exchange instead of leaving the job to the federal exchange. Responding to criticism of his position, Otter's office released a statement on January 18, 2013, listing "myths" attributed to opponents of the state-based exchange and followed by "facts" disproving the myths.[3] The Idaho Freedom Foundation, a free market think tank critical of the proposed Idaho healthcare exchange, released a response to the governor's factsheet on January 22, 2013. The Foundation accused Otter of including misinformation in his "facts."[4]

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Butch Otter endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [5]

Position on gray wolves

On January 11, 2007, Otter announced his support for a "gray wolf kill," in which all but 100 of Idaho's recently-recovered population would be eradicated, pending the forthcoming U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removal of the wolves' federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. At the rally with about 300 hunters, Otter said, "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself," and complained that wolves were rapidly killing elk and other animals essential to Idaho's multimillion-dollar hunting industry. Suzanne Stone, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife in Boise, said that Otter's proposal confirmed her organization's worst fears: that the governor's move was political and contrary to the principles of biological management.[6]

In August 2010, Otter was critical of a federal judge's decision to put Idaho's wolf population back on the federal endangered species list. "The number of wolves in Idaho today is almost triple the population necessary for delisting throughout all three states," Otter said. "I don’t know why any state would ever allow another reintroduction of a species because the federal government and radical environmentalists simply cannot live up to their word and allow state management."[7][8][9]

On April 19, 2011, Otter signed a bill that would essentially allow him to declare a disaster due to the state’s wolf population, despite the animals being removed from the endangered species list.[10]

Income tax rates

Rep. Marv Hagedorn submitted a bill for the 2011 session that he said would reduce personal and business income taxes in Idaho, lure businesses to the state, and ultimately increase overall tax revenues for Idaho. Gov. Otter backed the proposal in his State of the State address, mentioning Hagedorn by name.

Hagedorn’s bill was a 10-year plan that would lower personal and corporate income taxes in the state to a flat 4.9 percent, making it one of the lowest rates in the United States.[11]

Pardons

In April 2013, Otter issued his first ever pardons as governor. Otter signed pardon orders for two men, Eric Robert Hinckley and Robert Frank Thornton, who were convicted of selling drugs to undercover officers. By the time Otter pardon them, they had served their time, paid all restitution and fines, exceeded their terms of parole and been productive citizens for years.[12]

U.S. Congress (2001-2006)

First District Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth-Hage had promised to serve only three terms in the House when first elected in the Republican wave of 1994, and kept that pledge in 2000 even after calling term limits bad policy. Otter entered the Republican primary, and immediately became the favorite due to his name recognition as lieutenant governor. He won handily, and breezed to victory in November. He was re-elected in 2002 and 2004 with no substantive opposition.

In Congress, Otter was largely conservative with a slight libertarian streak, as reflected in his opposition to the Patriot Act. He was one of three Republicans (along with Bob Ney of Ohio and Ron Paul of Texas) to vote against the act in 2001. He has since changed his views on the Patriot Act, and now believes that "much of the USA PATRIOT Act is needed to help protect us in a dangerous age of stateless zealots and mindless violence."

Otter was also very critical of the Bush Administration's domestic spying efforts. He served as a deputy majority whip for most of his time in Congress despite his opposition to many key Bush Administration policies.

Issues

During his time in Congress, Otter was evaluated by several politically-oriented organizations. His evaluations by these groups are fairly typical of conservative Republicans:

  • Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 11% by APHA, indicating an anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 10% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 5% by the LCV, indicating anti-environmentalist votes. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 33% by SANE, indicating a mixed record on military issues. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 20% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-ACLU voting record. (Dec 2002)
  • Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 67% by CATO, indicating a pro-free trade voting record. (Dec 2002)
  • Rated 71% by NTU, indicating "Satisfactory" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)*
  • Rated 0% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-labor union voting record. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 100% by FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 97% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
  • Rated 92% by the Christian Coalition, indicating a pro-life, anti-gay marriage voting record. (Dec 2003)[13]

Lieutenant Governor of Idaho (1986-2001)

In 1986, Otter returned to politics and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Idaho. He was re-elected in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He served under three different governors, Democrat Cecil Andrus, and Republicans Phil Batt and Dirk Kempthorne. In 1991, when the Idaho Senate was evenly divided between 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats, Otter's tie-breaking votes kept the body under Republican control. Otter left the post midway through his fourth term in 2001 to take his Congressional seat. He is the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Idaho history.

Idaho House of Representatives (1972-1978)

Otter's first bid for elective office was in 1972 when he was elected a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from Canyon County. In 1978 Otter ran for Governor of Idaho, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Allan Larsen. Afterwards Otter remained active in the Idaho Republican Party, holding several state and county positions.

Elections

2014

See also: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2014

Otter is planning to seek re-election to a third term as Governor of Idaho in 2014.[14]

2010

See also: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2010

Otter won re-election in the November 2, 2010 general election, defeating Democratic challenger Keith Allred.

Idaho Governor, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgC.L. "Butch" Otter Incumbent 59.1% 267,483
     Democratic Keith Allred 32.9% 148,680
     Independent Jana M. Kemp 5.9% 26,655
     Libertarian Ted Dunlap 1.3% 5,867
     Independent Pro-Life (Marvin Thomas Richardson) 0.9% 3,850
Total Votes 452,535
Election Results Via: Idaho Secretary of State


2006

On December 15 2004, Otter announced his candidacy for the gubernatorial seat in 2006. Otter defeated three opponents in the May 23 Republican primary and faced Democrat Jerry Brady in the November 6 general election. Brady, the former publisher of The Post Register in Idaho Falls, had run for governor in 2002, losing to incumbent Dirk Kempthorne.

Otter was initially considered an overwhelming favorite, given his popularity and Idaho's strong Republican lean. However, the race was far closer than expected in the last weeks of the campaign. A poll conducted for the Idaho Statesman and Boise ABC affiliate KIVI showed Otter ahead of Brady by only a single point — a statistical dead heat. According to the Statesman, it was the first time in over a decade that the governor's race had not already been decided 10 days prior to the election. State Republican Party chairman Kirk Sullivan told the paper that the race appeared to be closer than normal because of a strong national trend against the Republicans.[15] The Democrats have not held the governorship since 1995, and since 1998 it was usually a foregone conclusion that the Republicans would win.

The Statesman/KIVI poll proved inaccurate, and Otter won the election 52-44% — the closest gubernatorial race since 1995.


Idaho Governor, 2006
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgC.L. "Butch" Otter 52.7% 237,437
     Democratic Jerry M. Brady 44.1% 198,845
     Constitution Marvin Richardson 1.6% 7,309
     Libertarian Ted Dunlap 1.6% 7,241
Total Votes 450,832
Election Results Via: Idaho Secretary of State

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Butch Otter's donors each year.[16] Click [show] for more information.


Personal

On August 18 2006, he married his longtime girlfriend Lori Easley in Meridian.[17] The two met in 1991 when Easley was Miss Idaho USA. Otter's first marriage was later annulled by the Catholic Church so that he could marry Easley, who is 25 years his junior. Otter came under fire for this from some social conservatives, including Mark Ricks, a former Republican state senator and lieutenant governor.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Butch + Otter + Idaho + Governor"

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Butch Otter News Feed


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See also

External links

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U.S. Representative 2001–2007


References

  1. ↑ Idaho Reporter, "Otter announces 2014 re-election run," December 15, 2011
  2. ↑ Idaho Governor's Office, "About Governor Butch Otter," accessed September 13, 2012
  3. ↑ Governor Otter, "Health Insurance Exchange Myths," January 18, 2013
  4. ↑ Idaho Freedom Foundation, "Health Insurance Exchange Myths? Here’s the real story," January 22, 2013
  5. ↑ Idaho Statesman, "Otter to pitch for Romney Monday in North Idaho; Paul dribbles out endorsements," March 4, 2012
  6. ↑ Western Wolves, "IDAHO'S WOLF HUNT IS ON", 2009
  7. ↑ Idaho Reporter, "Idaho solons deride wolf de-listing, say the state can manage its own affairs", August 6, 2010
  8. ↑ Montana Watchdog, "3 Western governors asked to discuss wolves with feds," 'November 26, 2010
  9. ↑ Idaho Reporter, "Western governors could ask Congress to settle the wolves issue," November 30th, 2010
  10. ↑ "Backer of wolf disaster declaration bill says measure still necessary despite de-listing," Idaho Reporter, April 21, 2011
  11. ↑ Idaho Reporter, "Bill to reduce Idaho’s income tax rates to 4.9 percent has Otter’s blessing," January 10th, 2011
  12. ↑ Spokesman Review, "Otter signs first two pardons as governor, both for first-time drug sale offenders," May 6, 2013
  13. ↑ Issues 2000
  14. ↑ Idaho Reporter, "Otter announces 2014 re-election run," December 15, 2011
  15. ↑ Idaho Statesman
  16. ↑ Follow the Money.org
  17. ↑ Associated Press, "Otter and Easley Exchange Vows", August 18, 2006
Political offices
Preceded by
' 		Idaho House of Representatives
1972-1976 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
' 		Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
1987-2001 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
' 		U.S. House of Representatives
2001-2007 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
Jim Risch (R) 		Governor of Idaho
2007-present 		Succeeded by
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