The Latest: Little wins GOP gubernatorial primary
The Latest on the Idaho primary:
12:01 a.m.
Lt. Gov. Brad Little has won the hotly contested GOP primary in the race to replace Idaho Republican Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.
Little secured the nomination Tuesday against top opponents U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador and Boise businessman Tommy Ahlquist.
The gubernatorial seat became a top political race when Otter announced he wouldn’t seek a fourth term – marking the first time in 12 years the top statewide office would be open.
The 64-year-old Little is a rancher and Idaho native who has spent the past 16 years in elected office. In 2009, Otter appointed Little to the number two position with the expectation that he would one day become the Republican governor’s successor.
Little is the grandson of the “sheep king of Idaho,” Andy Little, a Scotsman who came to Emmett in 1884 and built an empire with 100,000 sheep.
You can view live results HERE.
___
11:35 p.m.
Republican Russ Fulcher has won his party’s nomination in the 1st Congressional District in Idaho.
The district, whose voters strongly backed President Donald Trump in 2016, is being vacated by Republican Congressman Raul Labrador, who ran for Idaho governor.
Fulcher, 56, originally filed to run for Idaho’s open gubernatorial seat nearly a year ago. Fulcher instead jumped into the congressional race, reasoning that he and Labrador should serve in complimentary roles.
Fulcher failed to win the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2014 with a narrow loss to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.
Fulcher beat six other Republicans in Tuesday’s primary.
The district covers the northern half of the state and snakes down to the western part of the Treasure Valley, including parts of Boise.
___
11:31 p.m.
Kristin Collum has won the Democratic nomination for the Idaho Lieutenant Governor’s race. Collum, an Army veteran who served 12 years before moving to the private tech sector, has joined forces with the state’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Paulette Jordan.
Collum easily won the primary against dentist and solar energy farmer Jim Fabe with more than 88 percent of the vote in early returns.
Jordan and Collum announced earlier a joint run earlier his year, calling themselves “Idaho’s first all-female joint ticket,” though Idaho ballots technically don’t have a joint ticket option.
Idaho’s lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate and steps in when the governor is out of the state. It’s a part-time position, and any major impact largely depends on the relationship between the governor and the lieutenant governor.
11:07 p.m.
Republican Sherri Ybarra has won the GOP primary in her pursuit to secure a second four-year term as Idaho’s superintendent of public instruction.
Ybarra won Tuesday’s primary against challenger Jeff Dillon, a superintendent from Wilder. She must now clear November’s general election.
Ybarra spent 17 years as a teacher, district administrator and curriculum director for the Mountain Home School District before seeking higher political office.
Ybarra narrowly won the open state superintendent of public instruction seat in 2014.
The position requires overseeing the state’s public school system. The superintendent of public instruction also serves on the five-member Idaho Land Board, which oversees 2.5 million acres of land to benefit state public schools.
You can view live results HERE.
___
11:04 p.m.
Boise teacher Cindy Wilson has won the Democratic primary in the race to become the next Idaho schools chief.
Wilson secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday against opponent Allen Humble. She must now clear the November general election.
Wilson was appointed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to the Idaho Board of Correction in 2015. She was also part of Otter’s education task force that sought improve the state’s public school system – which resulted in a five-year plan to boost teacher pay.
She is a longtime American government teacher who has taught in Boise, Orofino and Pierce.
The position requires overseeing the state’s public school system. The superintendent of public instruction also serves on the five-member Idaho Land Board, which oversees 2.5 million acres of land to benefit state public schools.
___
10: 56 p.m.
Former state Rep. Paulette Jordan has won the Democratic primary for Idaho governor.
She is the first woman to become the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Idaho.
If she wins the general election, Jordan would not only be the first woman to serve as Idaho governor, but also the first Native American woman to serve in that position in any state.
The 38-year-old Jordan, who is a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, won Tuesday’s primary against 72-year-old Boise businessman A.J. Balukoff.
The last Native American to hold a statewide office in Idaho was in 1990, when Larry Echo Hawk ran as a Democrat for attorney general.
The open gubernatorial seat became a top political race when Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter announced he wouldn’t seek a fourth term.
___
9:10 p.m.
An Idaho judge has denied an Idaho Democratic Party’s request to extend polling hours for two precincts in Ada County, the state’s most populous region.
Shelby Scott, the party’s political director, said Tuesday that the judge ruled the party didn’t provide enough sufficient evidence to justify keeping the polls open longer.
The party had requested the extension due to high voter turnout and numerous reports of low Democratic ballots across the region.
Polls are officially closed in Idaho.
You can view live results HERE.
___
9 p.m.
The Idaho Democratic Party has asked a judge to keep two precincts in Ada County open a little longer due to high voter turnout.
Election and party officials were still waiting a judge’s decision Tuesday evening as polls across Idaho were preparing to officially close.
Elections officials in several counties reported higher than average voter turnout, particularly among Democratic voters. Some polling locations requested extra Democratic ballots to keep from running out.
Shelby Scott, the Democratic Party’s political director, says they expect to hear the judge’s decision soon.
Scott says they’re asking for the polls to stay open until 9:30 or 10 p.m. MST.
7:20 p.m.
Poll workers are reporting that some polling locations in Idaho are running low on Democratic ballots due to higher than expected voter turnout.
Ada County election officials said Tuesday that they are delivering extra ballots to several polling locations across the state’s most populous county. They are encouraging voters to stay in line if their polling location is low or runs out of ballots.
Meanwhile, Canyon County spokesman joe Decker told the Idaho Statesman that most precincts are seeing higher-than average turnout.
Decker says the county had to send 25 more Democratic ballots to three polling locations because officials were running short. So far, the county hasn’t run out of ballots.
Over in Blaine County – one of Idaho’s few regions where Democrats tend to win election workers said they were not running low on Democratic ballots.
Polls close at 8 p.m.
___
5:15 p.m.
A polling site in Boise broke out in cheers after the 200th ballot of the day was cast.
Poll workers at the Boise site on Tuesday said they have had a steady stream of voters coming stopping by to vote, but expected foot traffic to pick up as people got off work.
Ada County Chief Deputy Phil McGrane told the Idaho Statesman that in Ada County, the most populous in the state, poll workers were printing more Democratic ballots due to higher than expected turnout.
Voter turnout in Idaho has hovered around 25 percent among registered voters in recent primary election cycles.
Polls close at 8 p.m.
___
1:14 p.m.
One polling site in Meridian didn’t have any ballots for those wanting to vote in the Democratic primary, but the Idaho Statesman reports an Ada County election official said ballots were brought to the site within the hour.
The snafu Tuesday happened at the Treasure Valley Baptist Church. Phil McGrane, chief deputy of the Ada County Clerk’s Office, told the newspaper the ballot printer placed a Democratic cover sheet on top of a stack of non-partisan ballots, so poll workers thought they had all the ballots. McGrane said a couple of the voters wanting those waited for the ballots to be delivered.
Ada County has 150 precincts, and nearly as many polling sites.
___
9:03 a.m.
In Idaho’s primary election voters must select a Republican, Democrat or nonpartisan ballot.
Anyone can select a nonpartisan or Democrat ballot, but only people who are registered as Republicans can select the GOP ballot. That’s because the Idaho Republican Party closed their primary to non-members four years ago.
People can register to vote at the polls, and new or unaffiliated voters can declare themselves Republican at that time if they wish to vote in the Republican primary.
But those who are already registered with a different party can’t change affiliation at the polls – that deadline was March 9.
The polls are open between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You can view live election results HERE.
___
8:17 a.m.
With polling stations open across the state, Idaho voters began casting ballots in several competitive and crowded races Tuesday morning.
The primary election is particularly important in Idaho, a Republican stronghold where the winners of the GOP primary often goes on to sweep the November general election as well.
Lines were short at some polling locations in north Boise just after 8 a.m. Many of the city’s polling stations often see their heaviest crowds during the lunch hour and in the early evening, coinciding with traditional office hours.
The most competitive and crowded races are for the open seats for governor and the 1st Congressional District, but Idaho’s lieutenant governor and state treasurer seats are also up for grabs without an incumbent. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra is hoping to secure a second term against GOP opponent Jeff Dillon.
There are few things you need to know if you’re heading to the polls.
If you have not registered to vote in Idaho, you will need a photo ID, i.e. a driver license, government-issued ID card or US passport. If you don’t have a photo ID, you will have to sign a personal identification affidavit.
You can still register at the polls, but be sure to bring proof of residency, i.e. a current driver’s license, utility bill or a lease agreement to name a few.
You will also have to declare which party you are affiliated with, either Republican or Democrat. If you don’t want to declare either party, you can still vote the non-partisan ballot.
To find where to vote, go HERE.
The polls are open between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You can view live election results HERE.
