The Idaho Democratic Party is the affiliate of the
Democratic Party in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
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 ...
.
While the party has been in the minority for most of the state's history, it has produced several notable public figures, including former U.S. senator
Frank Church and former governor and secretary of the interior
Cecil Andrus
Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served 26th and 28th governor of Idaho, for total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981 during the ...
.
Trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
support has traditionally been a key component of Democratic success in Idaho.
History
Created in 1863 after the discovery of new mining territory, the early Idaho Territory was heavily populated by settlers from western
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and Nevada who supported a
radical Republican
The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recon ...
agenda. However, towards the end of the war, Idaho became flooded with
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
refugees from states like
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
who voted, like the miners in Idaho, heavily Democratic. The state became a Democratic stronghold for the next two decades.
At the dawn of statehood, despite ceding Idaho almost entirely four years earlier to the
Populists
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
and
Republicans (Cleveland won only 2 popular votes in 1892), a fusion Populist/Democratic ticket behind
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...
's candidacy won the state with 78.1% of the vote with the support from
Silver Republicans. Nevertheless, the three– man congressional delegation remained
two-part Populist, one-part Republican.
It was not until the turn of the century that Idaho saw its first Democratic representation in Congress, Senator
Fred Dubois
Fred Thomas Dubois (May 29, 1851February 14, 1930) was a controversial American politician from Idaho who served two terms in the United States Senate. He was best known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise ...
,
U.S. Marshal
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
of the
Idaho Territory and a former Republican. He successfully campaigned on the disenfranchisement of
Mormons on the grounds that they broke the law by practicing polygamy, already having barred them form holding office while he held office in the state legislature. Ironically, while his anti– Mormonism as a Republican kept Democrats out of office after 1882, his
anti-Mormonism
Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...
as a Democrat had the same result after 1902.
Though Democrats and Jewish governor
Moses Alexander
Moses Alexander (November 13, 1853 – January 4, 1932) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 11th governor of Idaho, the second elected Jewish governor of a U.S. state, and the first who actually practiced that religion. ...
were able to implement a radically
progressive agenda with the backing of the
Nonpartisan League
The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan League advocat ...
while in control during
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's presidency, they quickly ceded power and it was not until
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1932 landslide that they began to turn out state and local (as well as national) Republican office holders for a sustained period of time.
That year, all three congressional Republicans up for re– election were defeated by Democratic challengers by at least 11 percent. All three challengers, like their state party, were stalwart supporters of FDR's
New Deal. Despite a turn of opinion against the federal government's programs years later, Democrats retained two of their three newly attained seats for at least 15 years and managed to control the legislature for eight until the chambers evened themselves out during and immediately after the war.
Decline
In the post-war decades, as state politics was professionalized, Republicans dominated the state legislature and the governor's mansion, but Democrats maintained a steadfast presence across all other executive offices. A platform of environmental concerns gave Idaho its last Democratic governor to date even as it became more conservative in its congressional delegation and state legislature.
However, in the 1970s and 1980s, Democrats lost two key voting groups. After the national party adopted a host of liberal social issues like abortion rights and
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, Idaho's
Mormons left the party in droves. Meanwhile,
unions lost influence in already declining mining and timber industries.
Since 1994, when four-term Democratic governor
Cecil Andrus
Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served 26th and 28th governor of Idaho, for total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981 during the ...
retired and Representative
Larry LaRocco
Larry LaRocco (born August 25, 1946) is an American politician who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the Idaho's 1st congressional district. LaRocco ran for lieutenant governorship in 2006 and the U.S. Senate in ...
was defeated, only one member of the party,
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 ...
, has won either statewide office or election to Congress; after winning election to the latter capacity in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, Minnick was subsequently defeated for re-election by Republican
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 ...
two years later. Idaho Democrats currently seat only twelve members of the state House and six members of the state Senate, slightly worse than the ~20% they held in each chamber in 1996 when the party first collapsed.
Unlike with other
Mountain West states, such as
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
and
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, immigration has not shifted Idaho leftward. Rather, Californians and other West Coast residents who have moved there have done so largely for cultural instead of economic reasons.
Elected officials
Members of Congress
* None
Statewide offices
* None
Legislative leadership
* Senate Minority Leader:
Melissa Wintrow
Melissa Wintrow is an American politician serving as a member of the Idaho Senate from the 19th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on December 1, 2020. Wintrow was previously a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from ...
*Assistant Senate Minority Leader:
James Ruchti
James Ruchti is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from the 29th district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on December 1, 2020. Ruchti had previously served in the House from ...
*Senate Minority Caucus Chair:
Janie Ward– Engelking
* House Minority Leader:
Ilana Rubel
*Assistant House Minority Leader:
Lauren Necochea
Lauren Necochea is an American politician serving as a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from the 19th district, which includes a portion of Boise, Idaho.
Early life and education
Necochea was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. She ear ...
*House Minority Caucus Chair:
Ned Burns
Chairs
*Lauren Necochea
*Deborah Silver
*Fred Cornworth
*Evangeline "Van" Beechler
*
Bert Marley
*Larry Kenck
*
R. Keith Roark
*
Larry Grant
*
Richard H. Stallings
*Carolyn Boyce
*Kathie Garrett
*
Bill Mauk
*Mel Morgan
*A. K. Lienhart– Minnick
*Conley Ward, 1988– 1991
*George Klein 1978
*John F. Greenfield 1976– 77
*A. W. "Bill" Brunt 1952– 1954
*John G. Walters 1958
*John Glasby
*George A. Greenfield 1954– 1955
*Gilbert Larsen ?– 1952
*Ed P. Brennan 1949
*Dan J. Cavanagh 1947– 1948
*David L. Bush 1944– 1946
*Ben W. Davis 1939
*Ira H. Taylor 1937
*T. A. Walters 1931
*Edwin M. Holden 1930
*L. E. Dillingham 1925– 1929
*Dr. W. R. Hamilton ?– 1918
*Joseph T. Pence 1914
*Ben R. Gray 1912
*
John F. Nugent
John Frost Nugent (June 28, 1868September 18, 1931) was an American attorney and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Idaho. He served three years in the United States Senate, from 1918 to 1921.
Early life and education ...
*
Kirtland I. Perky
Kirtland Irving Perky (February 8, 1867 – January 9, 1939) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Idaho.
Early life and education
Born in Smithville, Ohio, he attended the publi ...
1900– 1902
*
George Ainslie 1890– 1891
Election results
Presidential
Gubernatorial
See also
*
Political party strength in Idaho
The following table indicates the parties of elected officials in the U.S. state of Idaho:
*List of governors of Idaho, Governor
*List of lieutenant governors of Idaho, Lieutenant Governor
*Secretary of State of Idaho, Secretary of State
*Idaho Att ...
*
Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2016
*
Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2012
*
Idaho Democratic caucuses, 2008
References
External links
Idaho Democratic Party
{{Authority control
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States) by state