The 2008 congressional elections in Idaho were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who would represent the state 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 Wyom ...

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, coinciding with the

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and

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the eld ...

elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. 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 ce ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms. Its 2007–09 congressional delegation consisted of two Republicans. In the 2008 elections, District 1 was won by Democrat

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 i ...

, so Idaho's delegation to the 111th Congress consists of one Republican and one Democrat. CQ Politics had forecasted District 1 to be at some risk for the incumbent party. , this was the last time a Democrat was elected to congress from Idaho. The statewide

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held May 27, 2008.

Overview

Match-up summary

District 1

This district includes most of the

Boise metropolitan area The Boise–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (commonly known as the Boise Metropolitan Area or the Treasure Valley) is an area that encompasses Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee counties in southwestern Idaho, anchored by the c ...

and northern Idaho, including all of the

Idaho Panhandle The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shosh ...

. Major cities in the district include

Nampa The Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) is the national news agency of the Namibia, Republic of Namibia. It was founded in 1987 under the name Namibia Press Association as a SWAPO partisan press agency, and resuscitated after Namibian War of Independence ...

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

, Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston as well as precincts in western Boise. Usually a Republican stronghold, in 2006

Bill Sali William Thomas Sali (born February 17, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a congressman from Idaho. A Republican, he served a single term in the United States House of Representatives, representing from 2007 to 2009. Sali pr ...

campaign website
won an open seat race with only 50 percent of the vote over Larry Grant's 45 percent. In 2008 Sali faced

campaign website
, a businessman and former White House staffer who had been the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1996. Grant announced his intention to run for the seat again, but withdrew from the race before the primary and endorsed Minnick instead. Sali defeated Iraq war veteran Matt Salisbury with 60 percent of the vote in the May 27 Republican primary. Minnick won the Democratic nomination unopposed. Initially, Sali was considered safe due to the district's heavily Republican nature (

CPVI The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a List of United States congressional districts, United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic Party (United Sta ...

R+19), and the race was initially rated 'Safe Republican' by the non-partisan Cook Political Report. However, it soon became increasingly competitive. According to ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', a combination of poor fund raising (Sali trailed Minnick by nearly $200,000 according to reports in May) and Sali's combative reputation gave Minnick a chance to upset Sali despite the district's conservative majority. Many moderates who would have normally leaned Republican were reportedly concerned by Sali's far-right social views in a state where conservative voters have historically cared more about small government issues than social issues. As a result, the Cook Political Report adjusted its rating for the race throughout the campaign, moving it to 'Likely Republican' on July 3, 'Leans Republican' on September 18, and 'Republican Toss Up' on October 23. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Republican Favored', but changed its rating to 'No Clear Favorite' late in the campaign. The Rothenberg Report rated it as 'Lean Republican'.
Race ranking and details
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

Campaign contributions
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). ...

2008 Idaho CD-01
graph of collected polls at ''Pollster.com''

Results

Minnick defeated Sali by just over 4,000 votes. Minnick was the first Democrat to be elected to Congress from Idaho since Larry LaRocco was defeated for reelection to this seat in 1994; he was only the second Democrat to hold the seat since the 1960s. According to

, as calculated using the 2004 and 2008 presidential election results, Idaho's first district was the third most Republican-leaning district in the country to be represented by a Democrat in the 111th Congress.

District 2

This district includes the Eastern Idaho and Magic Valley regions of Idaho, including the cities of Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls, as well as parts of Boise on its western edge. The seat was held by Republican Mike Simpson, who was first elected in 1998. Simpson
campaign website
ran for reelection against Democratic nominee Deborah Holmes
campaign website
, a first-time candidate for public office. Both Simpson and Holmes decisively won their respective primaries. Although parts of the district have trended Democratic in recent years, including Blaine County, Teton County and the Boise precincts located in the district, a strong

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

voting bloc has kept the district in Republican hands. CQ Politics forecasts the race as 'Safe Republican'.
Race ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Results

Mike Simpson easily won reelection over Deborah Holmes, receiving 71 percent of the vote.

References

External links

Elections, Campaign Disclosure and Lobbyists
from the ''Idaho Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for Idaho
at Project Vote Smart
Idaho U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Idaho congressional races
from

{{2008 United States elections

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