2014 Idaho elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Idaho on November 4, 2014. All of Idaho's executive officers are up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and both of Idaho's two seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections was held on May 20, 2014.

Governor

Incumbent Republican Governor Butch Otter ran for re-election to a third term in office[1]

He was challenged in the Republican primary by State Senator Russ Fulcher,[2] defeating him 51% to 44%. Perennial candidate Walt Bayes[3] and candidate for Idaho's 1st congressional district in 2000 and 2010 and candidate for Mayor of Boise in 2001 Harley Brown[3] took 2% and 3%, respectively.

A.J. Balukoff, a businessman and President of the Boise School District Board of Trustees[4] comfortably defeated Terry Kerr, a former Republican candidate for local office,[3] for the Democratic nomination.

Idaho gubernatorial election, 2014[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Butch Otter (incumbent)	235,405	53.52
	Democratic	A.J. Balukoff	169,556	38.55
	Libertarian	John Bujak	17,884	4.07
	Independent	Jill Humble	8,801	2.00
	Constitution	Steve Pankey	5,219	1.19
	Independent	Pro-Life	2,870	0.65
	Other	Write-in	95	0.02
Total votes			439,830	100.0
	Republican hold

Lieutenant Governor

County results

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Brad Little ran for re-election to a second term in office.[6]

He was challenged in the Republican primary by Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik.[7]

Republican primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brad Little (incumbent)	96,790	66.8
	Republican	Jim Chmelik	48,105	33.2
Total votes			144,895	100.0

Former State Senator and candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2006 Bert Marley was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.[9]

David Hartigan ran for the Constitution Party.[10]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Brad Little (R)	Bert Marley (D)	David Hartigan (C)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	October 30–November 2, 2014	1,001	± 3.1%	56%	30%	7%	8%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	522	± 4.3%	42%	25%	12%	20%

Idaho lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brad Little (incumbent)	271,268	62.8
	Democratic	Bert Marley	141,917	32.9
	Constitution	David Hartigan	18,705	4.3
Total votes			431,890	100.0
	Republican hold

Attorney General

County results

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden ran for re-election to a fourth term in office.[11] He was challenged in the Republican primary by attorney C.T. "Chris" Troupis.[12]

Republican primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lawrence Wasden (incumbent)	83,651	59.09
	Republican	C.T. "Chris" Troupis	57,904	40.91
Total votes			141,555	100

Attorney Bruce Bistline was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.[13]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lawrence Wasden (R)	Bruce Bistline (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	October 30–November 2, 2014	1,001	± 3.1%	64%	27%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	522	± 4.3%	52%	26%	22%

Idaho Attorney General election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lawrence Wasden (incumbent)	289,762	68.0
	Democratic	Bruce Bistline	136,081	32.0
Total votes			425,843	100.0
	Republican hold

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Ben Ysursa did not run for re-election to a fourth term in office.[14]

Four Republicans ran for their party's nomination: former Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives Lawerence Denney,[15] former State Senator Evan Frasure,[16] Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane[17] and former State Senator Mitch Toryanski.[18] State Senator Marv Hagedorn and State Representative Luke Malek had considered running in the Republican primary, but decided against it.[17][19]

Republican primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lawerence Denney	50,884	37.08
	Republican	Phil McGrane	38,282	27.89
	Republican	Evan Frasure	26,474	19.29
	Republican	Mitch Toryanski	21,598	15.74
Total votes			137,238	100.0

State Representative Holli Woodings is running for the Democrats and was unopposed in her party's primary.[20]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lawerence Denney (R)	Holli Woodings (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	October 30–November 2, 2014	1,001	± 3.1%	51%	40%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	522	± 4.3%	38%	35%	27%

Idaho Secretary of State election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lawerence Denney	241,851	56.2
	Democratic	Holli Woodings	188,353	43.8
Total votes			430,204	100.0
	Republican hold

Treasurer

County results

Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Ron Crane is running for re-election to a fifth term in office.[21] He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Chairwoman of the Twin Falls County Democrats Deborah Silver and Green Party nominee for Nevada's 1st congressional district in 2002 W. Lane Startin ran for the Democratic nomination.[13]

Democratic primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Deborah Silver	19,959	84.01
	Democratic	W. Lane Startin	3,800	15.99
Total votes			23,759	100.0

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ron Crane (R)	Deborah Silver (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	October 30–November 2, 2014	1,001	± 3.1%	55%	36%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	522	± 4.3%	46%	32%	22%

Idaho State Treasurer election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ron Crane (incumbent)	260,044	61.0
	Democratic	Deborah Silver	166,487	39.0
Total votes			425,843	100.0
	Republican hold

Controller

Incumbent Republican Controller Brandon D. Woolf, who was appointed to the position in 2012 after Donna Jones resigned after suffering injuries in a car crash, ran for election to a first full term.[22] He was challenged in the Republican primary by former Vice Chairman of the Idaho Republican Party and candidate for Controller in 2010 Todd Hatfield.[23]

Republican primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon D. Woolf (incumbent)	68,404	50.91
	Republican	Todd Hatfield	65,964	49.09
Total votes			134,368	100.0

No Democrat filed to run for the office.[13]

Idaho State Controller election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon Woolf (incumbent)	342,013	100.0
Total votes			342,013	100.0
	Republican hold

Superintendent of Public Instruction

County results

Incumbent Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna did not run for re-election to a third term in office.[24]

Four Republicans ran for their party's nomination: teacher John Eynon,[25] Melba School District Superintendent Andrew Grover,[26] middle school principal Randy Jensen[27] and high school principal Sherri Ybarra.[28]

Former Chief Deputy Superintendent Roger Quarles, former State Representative Steve Smylie, former State Senator Melinda Smyser, State Representative Steven Thayn, State Representative Jeffrey Thompson and Gooding School District Superintendent Heather Williams had considered running in the Republican primary, but all decided against it.[28][29][30]

Republican primary results[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sherri Ybarra	38,603	28.46
	Republican	Randy Jensen	32,940	24.29
	Republican	Andrew Grover	32,511	23.97
	Republican	John Eynon	31,578	23.28
Total votes			135,632	100.0

Former Chief Deputy Superintendent and nominee for Superintendent in 2006 Jana Jones ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.[31]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Sherri Ybarra (R)	Jana Jones (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	October 30–November 2, 2014	1,001	± 3.1%	46%	45%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	522	± 4.3%	41%	38%	21%

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sherri Ybarra	217,049	50.6
	Democratic	Jana Jones	211,483	49.4
Total votes			428,532	100.0
	Republican hold

United States Senate

Incumbent Republican Senator Jim Risch ran for re-election to a second term in office.[32] He was challenged in the Republican primary by Jeremy Anderson, defeating him with almost 80% of the vote.[13]

Attorney Nels Mitchell easily defeated attorney from New York and perennial candidate William Bryk for the Democratic nomination.[13][33]

United States Senate election in Idaho, 2014[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Risch (incumbent)	285,596	65.3
	Democratic	Nels Mitchell	151,574	34.7
Total votes			437,170	100.0
	Republican hold

United States House of Representatives

Both of Idaho's two seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2014. Both incumbents, Raúl Labrador and Mike Simpson won re-election handily.

References

1. "Otter taps industry lobbyist to run re-election campaign". KBOI 2. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
2. "Bank on it: Fulcher will announce challenge to Gov. Otter in Saturday fly-around". Idaho Statesman. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
3. "Nine vie to be next Idaho governor". Idaho Statesman. March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
4. Popkey, Dan. "Democrat Balukoff joins race for governor", Idaho Statesman, December 3, 2013.
5. "Nov 04, 2014 General Election Results". Idaho Secretary of State. Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
6. "Lt. Gov. Brad Little to seek re-election in 2014". Idaho Statesman. September 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
7. "Idaho County commissioner to challenge Little". Idaho Statesman. January 22, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
8. "*** UNOFFICIAL *** 2014 - Primary Election Statewide Totals". Idaho Secretary of State. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
9. "Bert Marley to run for Idaho lieutenant governor". Idaho State Journal. February 13, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
10. "Candidates flock to Idaho ballot". The Spokesman-Review. February 14, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
11. "Wasden to announce bid for fourth term as Idaho attorney general". Idaho Statesman. January 27, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
12. "Troupis to challenge Idaho Attorney General Wasden". Idaho Statesman. March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
13. Russell, Betsy Z. (March 14, 2014). "Candidates flock to Idaho ballot". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
14. Popkey, Dan. "Ysursa won't run for re-election as Idaho secretary of state" Idaho Statesman, November 8, 2013.
15. "Lawerence Denney seeks Idaho Secretary of State post". The Spokesman-Review. October 25, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
16. "Former GOP Rep. Evan Frasure to run for Secretary of State". The Spokesman-Review. December 13, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
17. "McGrane schedules announcement, and will be handing out free BBQ…". Idaho Statesman. December 9, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
18. "Former Sens. Frasure, Toryanski will run for Idaho Secretary of State". Idaho Statesman. December 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
19. "Malek decides against run for Secretary of State". The Spokesman-Review. December 27, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
20. "Woodings running for secretary of state". Idaho Education News. January 31, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
21. "Treasurer Ron Crane Announces Bid for Re-election". KMVT.com. March 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
22. "State controller Brandon D. Woolf launches campaign". Rexburg Standard Journal. October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
23. "Todd Hatfield to challenge Brandon Woolf for Idaho controller". Idaho Statesman. September 23, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
24. "Idaho superintendent Tom Luna says he won't seek reelection". KBOI2. January 27, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
25. "Grangeville teacher joins superintendent's race". Idaho Education News. January 21, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
26. "Melba leader joins superintendent race". Idaho Education News. February 18, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
27. "Principal enters state race: A.F. middle school chief to challenge Luna in superintendent primary". Idaho State Journal. January 19, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
28. "New candidate enters superintendent's race". Idaho Education News. February 12, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
29. "Melinda Smyser rules out run for Idaho school superintendent". Idaho Statesman. January 29, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
30. "Quarles steps down, will return to BSU". Idaho Education News. January 30, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
31. "Jones running for state superintendent". Idaho Education News. January 7, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
32. Russell, Betsy Z. (April 4, 2013). "Risch says he'll run for re-election to U.S. Senate in 2014". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
33. Popkey, Dan (January 13, 2014). "Boise attorney, a political newcomer and Democrat, to take on Sen. Jim Risch". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
34. "Nov 04, 2014 General Election Results". Idaho Secretary of State. Retrieved December 8, 2014.