Governor visits Pocatello and Chubbuck

Republican candidates for state offices have been sharing their campaigns with local groups all around the state on a bus tour. The tour stopped at the Idaho Central Credit Union administration building in Chubbuck Thursday.

There, current Gov. Butch Otter outlined what he said are the top issues in this election, the most important being education.

The governor said the plan of tiered licensure, including pay raises for teachers, is the way to go. He said the Republican team is the best way to get the state on a conservative and constitutional path.

“Once we get the workforce in place, then the companies are going to come and they’re going to say ‘Here’s a well-educated, highly-motivated workforce that’s very responsible. We want to be part of that economy,'” he said.

Also on Thursday, the Bannock County Democrats held a fundraiser. The chairman, Dave Finkelnburg, said he’s glad the governor finally got on board in time for the elections. He said the democratic candidate, A.J. Balukoff, has been saying education has needed more funding for 17 years.

Finkelnburgalso said education has to do with the superintendent, and there have been many recent concerns brought up around Republican Sherri Ybarra.

Those controversies include plagiarized content on her campaign website, claimed a rival in the Republican primaries supported her when that wasn’t the case, misstating personal history about her marriages, not voting in a general election since moving to Idaho in 1996 and, most recently, claiming to have received a Ph.D when she in fact received a certificate. (For the full story, follow this link:bit.ly/10r3dO0).

Finkelnburgsaid all these controversies are drawing focus away from her lack of qualifications compared to Democratic candidate Jana Jones.

“She’s worked under three superintendents of public instruction, she’s had classroom time, she has a Ph.D in education,” he said. “She is clearly an exceptionally qualified individual.”

Otter also discussed numbers which showed Idaho’s economy is the fifth fastest-growing in the nation.

Finkelnburgsaidthat’s not surprising to hear, especially with how poorly Idaho ranks in education and most-minimum wage jobs. Finkelnburgsaid Idaho has nowhere to go but up in the rankings anyway.

“Thirty percent of Idahoans vote Republican consistently,” said Finkelnburg. “Thirty percent of Idahoans vote Democrat consistently. The largest group of Idahoans, about 40 percent, vote both parties, depending on who the individual is. So neither party can consistently win elections simply by winning only the votes of their party.”

Otter’s visit also prompted questions about his continued fighting against same-sex marriage in Idaho. Otter said he simply can’t choose which parts of the Idaho Constitution to defend, and indicated he thinks his Democratic opponent, A.J. Balukoff, who has indicated he would support same-sex marriage, should make sure to outline which parts of the Idaho Constitution he is and is not willing to defend if he takes the oath of office.

Otter also explained that the U.S. Constitution cannot dictate what states Constitutions say, bringing up the issue of the federal government coming into the state and taking away the rights of states.

Finkelnburgsimply said states are part of the federal government, and cannot make laws trying to overturn those put in place by the federal government.

“The governor and a lot of the Republicans in the legislature struggle with the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, which says states shall make no law that overrides federal law,” he said. “And in this case the courts have ruled one way and the governor is spending taxpayer money fighting that. I think he has an obligation to support the Idaho Constitution but the odds of him winning are poor given the U.S. Constitution and the decisions of the federal court.”

To find out where the GOP bus tour will be next, click here: otter4idaho.com/downloads/BusTour_Schedule.pdf

To find out where Democratic candidates will be touring, click here: idahodems.org