2012 elections review: Five incumbents ousted in ID legislative primaries
May 16, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams
Last night, Idaho held legislative and congressional primary elections. A total of two congressional and 105 legislative seats are up for election in 2012.
| Contested Primaries in Idaho -- May 15, 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. House (2 seats) |
State Legislature (105 seats) | ||||
| Total Democratic Contested Primaries | 2 (100%) | 10 (9.52%) | |||
| Total Republican Contested Primaries | 2 (100%) | 60 (57.14%) | |||
Congress
Idaho incumbents Raul Labrador and Mike Simpson both defeated challengers to gain nominations in their respective Republican primaries. Labrador defeated Reed McCandless in the 1st District and Simpson defeated M.C. Heileson in the 2nd District.
The 1st District held a close race in the Democratic primary between former NFL football player Jimmy Farris and Cynthia Clinkingbeard. Despite some legal trouble and suspending her active campaign[1][2][3], Clinkingbeard managed to present substantial primary competition for Farris. However, in the end Farris prevailed by a narrow margin and will face incumbent Raul Labrador in the general election.
Idaho State senator Nicole LeFavour defeated Jack Wayne Chappell in the 2nd District Democratic primary. She will face Simpson (R) in the general election for the 2nd District seat.
State legislatures
All eyes last night were on the first ever closed Republican primary, where GOP House leaders dropped at least $15,000 in an attempt to kick out a number of Republican incumbents including Sens. Shawn Keough, Dean Cameron, and Patti Anne Lodge and Reps. Ken Roberts, George Eskridge.[4] Of those five, all won with the exception of Roberts, who was defeated by Dell Raybould in a three-way race.
Throughout the 105 seats up for election, 70 were contested primaries - 10 (9.52%) of these were Democratic races and 60 (57.14%) were Republican. Other notable races include:
Senate
In District 12, the Democratic nod went to Melissa Sue Robinson, who defeated Maria Mabbutt 175 to 171.
In the District 12 Republican primary, Todd Lakey defeated House incumbent Robert E. Schaefer.
District 23 Republican incumbent Tim Corder was defeated by challenger Bert Brackett
House
Incumbent Phil Hart was defeated by challenger Ed Morse in District 2B
incumbent Jim Marriott was defeated by challenger Julie Van Orden in District 31B
| Idaho State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 7 | 6 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | 29 | |
| Total | 35 | 35 | |
| Idaho House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 13 | 13 | |
| Republican Party | 57 | 57 | |
| Total | 70 | 70 | |
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2012
- Idaho State Senate elections, 2012
- Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Idaho Statesman, "Mental Competency Hearing for Idaho Congressional Candidate Clinkingbeard" accessed May 10, 2012.
- ↑ Boise Weekly.com, "Mental Evaluation Ordered for Congressional Candidate Cynthia Clinkingbeard" accessed April 30, 2012
- ↑ KIVI TV "Cynthia Clinkingbeard gears campaign back up after arrest" accessed April 30, 2012
- ↑ Nola.com, “Idaho voters go to polls in first closed GOP primary,” May 15, 2012
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