Democrats take over U.S. Congress, but Idaho is still Idaho

The races
It’s a new day for the American government. The people voted for change in Tuesday’s national elections. The Democratic Party took control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.

Idaho voters chose to stay the same, electing Republican incumbent from the Second District Mike Simpson and first-term Republican Bill Sali to Idaho’s first congressional seats. Although many Idahoans switched party affiliations, the state remained “red” after Tuesday’s elections.

The rest of the country had other ideas. The Democratic Party gained at least 29 seats in the house, giving it the simple majority. At press time, Democrats held 229 spots in the House and Republicans held 196 (10 seats were still undecided). For the next two years, Democrats will chair every committee in the House and will elect a speaker. That speaker is almost guaranteed to be Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Pelosi would be the first female Speaker of the House in the history of the United States. The Speaker of the House is third in line for the presidency.

Pelosi has said that in the first 100 hours of her speakership she will push for action: implementing all 9/11 Commission recommendations on national security, raising the minimum wage to $7.25, eliminating corporate subsidies for oil companies, allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices, imposing new restrictions on lobbyists, cutting interest rates on college loans and supporting embryonic stem-cell research. She also plans tax cuts for the middle class, but none for wealthier Americans.

The major concerns for voters Tuesday were the War in Iraq, terrorism in general, social issues and Republican scandals which surfaced in the last two months.

Waves of change rippled through the states of this union. The Republican Party seemed to lose its moderate voters, who came out in record numbers (for mid-term elections) in some districts.

The Democrats also looked to seize power of the U.S. Senate. The Party needed to gain six seats to take control, while not losing any of their own seats up for grabs this election. (Only one-third of the Senate is up for election every two years. Senators serve 6-year terms).

Close Senate races won by Democrats surfaced in Missouri (Democrat Claire McCaskill beat incumbent James Talent), Montana (where farmer and former music teacher Jon Tester defeated three-term Senator Conrad Burns by a few thousand votes) and Virginia (where Jim Webb announced his victory over incumbent George F. Allen; Allen had not conceded at press time, but was trailing by 8,000 votes with 99 percent of votes counted).

Democrats also won Republican-held seats in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Ohio.

Neither of Idaho’s two U.S. Senate seats was up for election this year.

The Democrats also scored big in gubernatorial races, picking up governorships in six states, while keeping all of their own. The Democrats won key elections for governor in New York, Colorado, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In Idaho’s race for governor, the race to replace Dirk Kempthorne (who left office to become the U.S. Secretary of the Interior), C.L. “Butch” Otter ran away with the victory over Jerry Brady. Current Governor Jim Risch also won a seat for the Republican Party. Risch will be Idaho’s next Lieutenant Governor, a seat he previously held during Kempthorne’s administration.

In all, none of the Democratic incumbents in the races for the Senate, the House or the governorship lost Tuesday.

Idaho Statehouse
Despite a 4-1 Republican majority remaining in the Idaho Statehouse, Democrats picked up as many as six seats in urban areas in Idaho Falls and Boise. In northern Idaho, Sen. John Goedde (a Republican from Coeur d’Alene) narrowly defeated Steven Foxx by 192 votes.

Democrat Jerry Shively defeated seven-term Republican Jack Barraclough in Idaho Falls.

In Boise, five Democrats unseated Republican foes, including House Rep. Julie Ellsworth, who is currently the Republican caucus chairwoman.

Ballot initiatives
States across the union asked their constituents to vote on a plethora of initiatives regarding the future of same-sex marriages, stem-cell research, abortion and land use rights.

The most controversial and high-profile initiative was in South Dakota, where voters defeated a law that would make almost all abortions illegal, even in cases of rape or incest.  The defeat of the law was a victory for pro-choice groups across the country. If the voters of South Dakota had passed the law, lawsuits could have emerged in the state, which could have eventually gone to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court could then reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in America.
Eight states had ban-same-sex-marriage amendments on their ballots, including Idaho. South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado and South Dakota all passed the measure. Colorado voters also shot down an amendment which would have allowed domestic partnerships. Only Arizona voters said no to the ban on same-sex marriage, which still doesn’t make it legal.

In Boise, citizens voted 53 percent to 47 percent against a measure which would have put a 10 Commandments monument in Julia Davis Park. In Meridian, voters passed a measure to build a new library.

Idaho voters also passed a measure that would put funds received in a 90s lawsuit victory over the tobacco industry into an account to provide constant funding for years to come.

Voters also shot down both Proposition 1 and Proposition 2. Prop. 1 would have raised the sales tax in Idaho to six cents to help pay for education in Idaho Schools.

Prop. 2 would have broadened the definition of eminent domain when used for economic development, permitting just compensation for regulatory takings.

Arizona, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Colorado (all six states with amendments to raise the minimum wage) passed the amendments. Arizona passed a measure making English the state’s official language. It also shot down a measure that would have awarded $1 million to a random voter.

Colorado and Nevada voters also narrowly defeated measures that would have legalized residents to carry up to an ounce of marijuana. South Dakota citizens also voted against a measure that would have legalized medical marijuana.

Ohio voters declined a measure that would have legalized slot machines in the state.

Arbiter Staff

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