| Nuxoll
unseats Heinrich in Primary
The Primary Election was held last week with Sheryl Nuxoll defeating incumbent Lee Heinrich for the Republican nomination for State Senator from District 8. Nuxoll had 3,830 votes in the district, 2,046 in Idaho County while Heinrich had 2,896 total votes, 1,172 of which came from Idaho County. Nuxoll will face Democratic nominee Leta Strauss, who was unopposed in the primary, in November. The one Idaho County race that was contested in the primary was for Clerk of the District Court. Kathy Ackerman won the 3-way race for the Republican nomination with 1,897 votes. Joan Hall received 917 votes and Pat Alfrey received 348 votes. There was no Democratic nominee. None of the other Idaho County races were disputed in the primary but there will be disputed elections in November with Democratic incumbent County Commissioner Jim Rehder facing off, for the third time, against Republican nominee Jim Chmelik for the third district position. In the other Legislative District races incumbent Ken Roberts held off challenger Gordon Conrad 4,353 to 1,921 for District 8 State Representative Position A. The totals were 2,293 to 636 in Idaho County. There was no Democratic nominee. Incumbent Republican Paul Shepherd and Democratic challenger Jerry Lockhart were unopposed in the primary. In the statewide races the only race considered an upset was for the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress. Raul Labrador outpolled Vaughn Ward 38,686 to 31,613 in District wide results. Labrador also outpolled Ward in Idaho County 1,182 to 845. Labrador will challenge incumbent Democrat Walt Minnick, who was unopposed in the primary. Incumbent U.S. Senator Mike Crapo easily won the nomination over Republican challenger Skip Davis. He’ll face Democratic challenger Tom Sullivan in November. Incumbent Governor Butch Otter won the Republican nomination over 5 challengers with 89,128 votes. Rex Rammell was the closest challenger with 42,430 votes. Rammell actually outpolled Otter in Idaho County 1,510 to 1,290. For Lieutenant Governor Bad Little won the Republican nomination over 2 challengers. He’ll face Democrat Eldon Wallace in November. The only other statewide contested race was for State Controller where Incumbent Republican Donna Jones held off challenger Todd Hatfield. She’ll face Democrat Bruce Robinett in November. A couple of judicial races were contested. Roger Burdick held off challenger John Bradbury to retain his seat on the Idaho Supreme Court with 99,750 votes to 71.502 for Bradbury. Bradbury outpolled Burdick in Idaho County 2,099 to 1,259. Four District judges were up for election with the only contested race being for the position currently held by Bradbury. Michael Griffin won out over Edwin Litteneker 7,338 to 4,036 District-wide. Griffin had a 2,368 to 799 margin in Idaho County. |
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