Bee unveils its candidate endorsements

The Daily Bee today continues its tradition of endorsing candidates in local races and county races.

The endorsements are written by me, the publisher of this paper, with input from the newsroom staff.

The endorsements are based on interviews with each candidate, performances at the forums, resumes, track record and several other factors.

We take endorsements seriously but also realize that readers should make up their own minds. Please go to bonnercountydailybee.com to read profiles of each candidate and to find sample ballots.

We don’t necessarily endorse those we think will win but in the past 10 elections our endorsements run just over 95 percent in accurately predicting a winner.

The reason we run opinions on the Opinion page is that the endorsements are our opinion. This is the same page we run letters to the editor — our readers’ opinions.

The opinions expressed on this page should not be confused with how our reporters cover these races.

Of note: 481 of the 731 issued absentee ballots had been cast in Bonner County by Friday afternoon so those voters have already made up their minds.

The state of Idaho projects only 26 percent of registered voters will vote in this election. Bonner County should trend a bit higher.

Whether you agree or disagree with these endorsements, we encourage you to learn more about the candidates to cast an informed ballot on Tuesday.

Endorsements

n U.S. Senate — Mike Crapo. Idaho’s senior senator has done a good job representing Idahoans and should be returned to office.

n Congressional First District — Democrat Walt Minnick. Republican, Raul R. Labrador. This is a tough call. Vaughn Ward has the money and endorsements (Sarah Palin in Boise!) from the GOP but has made many boneheaded errors in his campaign. Idaho is still living down Bill Sali’s poor showing in that office and can’t afford to go down that path again. This state needs a leader who can tell the truth and not “borrow” GOP talking points from other candidates. Labrador gets the nod because this state needs an underfunded, strong candidate who can simply do the job.

n Governor — Butch Otter. None of his five opponents offer anything new. Or inspired.

n Lt. Governor — Brad Little. A great leader and a good partner for Otter.

n State Controller — Donna Jones. Todd Hatfield is a weak candidate and Jones has done a good job.

n Legislature, District 1, State Senator — Shawn Keough. Keough has earned respect from both parties as a senator who gets things done. Her opponent, Steve Tanner, is an extremist who would not represent anyone except a slim, radical fringe element.

n Legislature, District 2, State Senator — Joyce Broadsword. Sagle Republican Dennis Engelhardt is a worthy challenger, but Broadsword has earned a return trip to Boise.

n County Commissioner, District 2 and 3 — These are exceedingly tough calls between the incumbents and the obvious front-running challengers. The incumbents — Joe Young and Lewie Rich — and the front-runners — Mike Nielsen and Russ Schenck — are all basically cut from the same Republican cloth. It’s the personalities and leadership styles that set them apart.

Both Young and Rich have had their missteps while in office (turning back a federal communications grant because of poor time management and the floodplain variance struggle, respectively), while Schenck and Nielsen have been dogged by reports that they’re running at the behest of Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who did not get everything he wanted when the board set budgets last year.

Young and Rich have proven they are competent, but there is no reason to doubt Nielsen and Schenck’s competence either.

n County Treasurer — Cheryl Piehl. Opponent John Maras would be a fantastic candidate if the county treasurer’s department was in disarray or lacked positive leadership. It’s just not the case here. Maras is a nice man with strong credentials but that isn’t enough of a reason for a change in what is arguably the best-run department in our county.

n County Assessor — Jerry Clemons. This has been the most heated race on the county level. Former county appraiser Tina Harvey was the first lieutenant in the assessor’s office during a time when the office was so mismanaged the state of Idaho had to come to the rescue. She wasn’t entirely responsible for that trainwreck but she was at the scene of the accident. She earned an unprecedented endorsement from the board of directors of the local board of Realtors as a result of a scrap between Clemons and the Realtors and access to property sales data. Clemons has proven to be a good department head and has fixed many of the deficiencies he inherited. Not only that, he went after part-time property owners here who were claiming the homeowners’ exemption and has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars that hadn’t been paid.

Harvey also didn’t make many friends during the candidate forums. She may have had some good ideas, but they were lost in her aggressive attacks on Clemons as well as her constant interruptions.

This department has come a long way from a time when Harvey was there. We can’t afford to let it go back.

Please let us know what you think of the endorsements by going to bonnercountydailybee.com and finding this editorial. You can place your comments below this story online.

David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.