The 2010 congressional elections in Idaho were held on November 2, 2010, and determined who would represent the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Idaho has two seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; the winners served in the

112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...

from January 3, 2011 until January 3, 2013.

Overview

By district

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho by district:

District 1

Overview

In this heavily conservative"Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 111th Congress." The Cook Political Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2011.

. district that consists of western Idaho and the Idaho Panhandle, incumbent Democratic Congressman

Walt Minnick Walter Clifford Minnick (born September 20, 1942) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is in the western part of the state, and ...

was seen as vulnerable, especially considering the fact that he won in 2008 against an embattled, weakened incumbent. Minnick, however, worked to build a profile as a moderate-to-conservative Democrat, voting against the 2009 Stimulus, the health care reform bill, and the American Clean Energy and Security Act, Furthermore, Congressman Minnick was the only Democrat to receive a perfect score from the

Club for Growth The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) conservative organization active in the United States, with an agenda focused on cutting taxes and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are the billionaires Jeff Yass and Richard U ...

, typically an organization that supports conservative Republican candidates for office.

Republican primary

Several Republican candidates, including

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veteran Vaughn Ward, State Representatives

Raúl Labrador Raúl Rafael Labrador (born December 8, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician who is the Attorney General-elect of Idaho. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the Idaho Republican Party from 2019 to 2020 and served as the U.S. Repre ...

and Ken Roberts, and physician Allan Salzberg, ran for the Republican nomination to challenge Minnick. Roberts eventually dropped out, as did Salzberg; both former candidates endorsed Labrador. Vaughn Ward's campaign received coverage from as far away as Great Britain as Sarah Palin came to Idaho endorse Ward, who was one of the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

's Young Guns. Critics seized on various troubles with the campaign, including multiple instances of plagiarism, Ward's failure to vote in the 2008 presidential elections and his referral to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

as a "country." Ultimately, despite the fact that many prominent conservatives had lined up behind Ward, Labrador triumphed in a contentious primary election.

General election

A contentious general election ensued, with both Minnick and Labrador launching aggressive campaign ads against each other. When Labrador accused the Congressman of supporting a middle class tax increase in a television ad, controversy quickly ensued;

Idaho Public Television Idaho Public Television (also known as IdahoPTV and Idaho Public TV) is a Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network serving the U.S. state of Idaho. Consisting of five television stations, it is operated and funded by the Idaho State Bo ...

threatened to pull the ad for its inaccuracy and critics accused Labrador of taking Minnick's remarks out of context. When Minnick aired an ad, Labrador attacked it for including pictures that made him "look like an illegal immigrant." Minnick strongly stressed his independent credentials; his claims were seemingly validated when the

Tea Party Express The Tea Party Express is a California-based group founded in the summer of 2009 to support the Tea Party movement. Founded as a national bus tour to rally Tea Party activists, the group's leadership also endorses and promotes conservative candida ...

, the largest group affiliated with the broader movement, endorsed his campaign for re-election. Going into election night, polling indicated Minnick with a lead over Labrador, but after the votes were tallied, Labrador defeated Minnick by a solid margin in a surprising upset.

Polling

Results

District 2

Campaign

This conservative district, based in

eastern Idaho Eastern Idaho is the area of Idaho lying east of the Magic Valley region. It is generally understood to include: Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Power an ...

and the

Magic Valley The Magic Valley is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural region in the Snake River Plain located ...

region of

, has been represented by incumbent Republican Congressman

Mike Simpson Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician and former dentist serving as the U.S. representative for since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Falls, Pocatello, S ...

since he was first elected in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Simpson did not face a serious challenge in his bid for a seventh term from Democratic candidate Mike Crawford or independent candidate Brian Schad and was re-elected by a large margin on election day.

Results

References

External links

Elections Division
at the Idaho Secretary of State site
U.S. Congress candidates for Idaho
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Idaho U.S. House
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Idaho
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

2010 Idaho General Election
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
House - Idaho
from the ''

Cook Political Report ''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...

'' {{United States general elections, 2010

2010 2010 Idaho elections