Sound and fury signifying nothing

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Wagnerian opera dictates that it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. As of press time she’s staying mum as far as the U.S. presidential race goes, but she sang loud and clear in the key of R in Idaho. In summing up what transpired Nov. 3 in the Gem State — an election that every thinking person regarded as an historic one — a phrase from William Shakespeare came to mind: “Sound and fury signifying nothing.” 

As the nation waits anxiously for the result of the race for the White House, Idaho politics watchers couldn’t have been too surprised by the results, which trickled into the wee hours of Nov. 4.

As the dust settled, incumbency ruled the day, with Republican Sen. Jim Risch besting his Democratic challenger Paulette Jordan 62.58% to 33.28%. That vote broke down to 537,456 to 285,824 — a huge turnout that mirrored (almost to the number) the state’s participation in the presidential race between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic challenger, former-Vice President Joe Biden.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher won a second term in Congress against Democrat Rudy Sotoe, 67.78% to 28.63%, pulling 310,737 votes to 131,268 districtwide.

Down ballot, in the state races, results were similarly red-hued. Incumbent District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, of Sagle, dominated his race against placeholder Democrat candidate Vera Gadman 77.4% to 22.6%, accounting for 19,662 votes to 9,245. 

Lightning rod Republican Blanchard Republican District 1A Rep. Heather Scott — whose tumultuous career in the Statehouse has spilled more ink than anyone in recent memory, not least of which for inclusion as a participant in “domestic terrorism” activites, according to a state-commissioned Washington report earlier this year — handily beat Democrat placeholder Gail Bolin with 68.02% of the vote to 31.98%.

Scott’s victory isn’t as surprising as the strong showing of her challenger. Bolin ran no campaign, yet, pulled 7,859 votes to Scott’s 14,911 — the former taking all Sandpoint precincts. Scott dominated overall, but received a little more than 50% in the Airport and Hope precincts.

Incumbent Republican District 1B Rep. Sage Dixon won out over Democratic challenger Stephen Howlett by a similar margin: 71.36% to 28.64%, pulling 20,212 votes to his opponent’s 8,113. Unlike his fellow Democrats in the district, Howlett actually ran a campaign, responding to media questions and participating in candidate forums. Yet, his name recognition in Boundary County didn’t translate into a win in Bonner.

As it stacked up, Dixon drew more votes than Scott, and Woodward drew more than either — for Scott, the message in the populous areas of the district was that her extremism and focus on out-of-area political issues turned off voters enough to cast their ballots in large numbers for a candidate who never even mounted a campaign.

Bonner County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, a Republican, handily won reelection over Democratic challenger Steve Johnson, 17,566 votes to 8,999. Johnson carried all the most populous precincts in the county, while Bradshaw commanded the rural areas.

Commissioner Jeff Connolly, also a Republican — though frequently the more moderate, dissenting voice on the three-member commission, led by Commissioner Dan McDonald — ran unopposed. Likewise, County Prosecutor Louis Marshall. 

Among the more heated contests on the ballot, the office Bonner County sheriff goes again to incumbent Daryl Wheeler by a wide margin against challenger Cindy Marx.

Marx ran as a write-in during the spring primary, garnering enough support to make it to the 2020 General Election ballot. She ran on a platform of depoliticizing the sheriff’s office, as Wheeler — a self-styled “constitutional sheriff,” which he describes as one that disregards laws he deems at odds with the original intent of the U.S. Constitution — has put himself front and center in various partisan battles over the past year. 

Wheeler was a plaintiff in the lawsuit between Bonner County and the city of Sandpoint over The Festival at Sandpoint’s weapons ban, claiming concerns over a violent “affray” if the concert series continued to bar firearms from publicly owned War Memorial Field. The judge in the case called that argument “unpersuasive” and “speculative,” dismissing it earlier in the fall. The county in recent weeks has appealed the case to the Idaho Supreme Court, though Wheeler is no longer a party.

Meanwhile, the sheriff has also interceded in statewide politics by vocally opposing Gov. Brad Little’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the virus caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 250,000 Americans since the spring.

As with other contested races, Marx carried the most populous precincts in the county, including all Sandpoint and portions of Ponderay.

Elsewhere in the state, Republicans dominated their races, though a handful of Democrats did win in precincts in the capital city of Boise. 

Finally, the constitutional amendment on the ballot — HJR4 — which would set the number of Idaho legislative districts at 35 passed 67.96% to 32.04%, with 525,766 in favor and 247,897 against.

As for the fat lady, we’ll all have to wait to hear her swan song.