The 2010 congressional elections in Idaho were held on November 2, 2010, and determined who would represent the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Idaho has two seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; the winners served in the

112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...

from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013.

Overview

By district

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho by district:

District 1

Overview

In this heavily conservative"Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 111th Congress." The Cook Political Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2011.

. district that consists of western Idaho and the

Idaho Panhandle The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, ...

, incumbent Democratic Congressman

Walt Minnick Walter Clifford Minnick (born September 20, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, and lobbyist who served as a U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and is the last Democrat to ...

was seen as vulnerable, especially considering the fact that he won in 2008 against an embattled, weakened incumbent. Minnick, however, worked to build a profile as a moderate-to-conservative Democrat, voting against the 2009 Stimulus, the health care reform bill, and the

American Clean Energy and Security Act The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bil ...

, Furthermore, Congressman Minnick was the only Democrat to receive a perfect score from the

Club for Growth The Club for Growth is a 501(c)(4) political organization active in the United States, with a fiscally conservative agenda focused on tax cuts and other economic policy issues. Club for Growth's largest funders are billionaires Jeff Yass a ...

, typically an organization that supports conservative Republican candidates for office.

Republican primary

Several Republican candidates, including

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

veteran Vaughn Ward, State Representatives Raúl Labrador and Ken Roberts, and physician Allan Salzberg, ran for the Republican nomination to challenge Minnick. Roberts eventually dropped out, as did Salzberg; both former candidates endorsed Labrador. Vaughn Ward's campaign received coverage from as far away as Great Britain as

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...

came to Idaho to endorse Ward, who was one of the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the United States Republican Party, Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Repub ...

's Young Guns. Critics seized on various troubles with the campaign, including multiple instances of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

, Ward's failure to vote in the 2008 presidential elections and his referral to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

as a "country." Ultimately, despite the fact that many prominent conservatives had lined up behind Ward, Labrador triumphed in a contentious primary election.

General election

A contentious general election ensued, with both Minnick and Labrador launching aggressive campaign ads against each other. When Labrador accused the Congressman of supporting a middle class tax increase in a television ad, controversy quickly ensued;

Idaho Public Television Idaho Public Television (also known as IdahoPTV and Idaho Public TV) is a Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network serving the U.S. state of Idaho. Consisting of five television stations, it is operated and funded by the Idaho State B ...

threatened to pull the ad for its inaccuracy and critics accused Labrador of taking Minnick's remarks out of context. When Minnick aired an ad, Labrador attacked it for including pictures that made him "look like an illegal immigrant." Minnick strongly stressed his independent credentials; his claims were seemingly validated when the

Tea Party Express The Tea Party Express is a California-based group founded in the summer of 2009 to support the Tea Party movement. Founded as a national bus tour to rally Tea Party activists, the group's leadership also endorses and promotes conservative candidat ...

, the largest group affiliated with the broader movement, endorsed his campaign for re-election. Going into election night, polling indicated Minnick with a lead over Labrador, but after the votes were tallied, Labrador defeated Minnick by a solid margin in a surprising upset.

Polling

Results

District 2

Campaign

This conservative district, based in

eastern Idaho Eastern Idaho is the area of Idaho lying east of the Magic Valley region. Much of the region is in the Mormon Corridor, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plays a major role in the lives of the region's residents. Eastern Id ...

and the

Magic Valley The Magic Valley, also known as South Central Idaho, is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural reg ...

region of

, has been represented by incumbent Republican Congressman

Mike Simpson Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Fa ...

since he was first elected in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Simpson did not face a serious challenge in his bid for a seventh term from Democratic candidate Mike Crawford or independent candidate Brian Schad and was re-elected by a large margin on election day.

Results

References

External links

Elections Division
at the Idaho Secretary of State site
U.S. Congress candidates for Idaho
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Idaho U.S. House
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Idaho
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

2010 Idaho General Election
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
House - Idaho
from the ''

Cook Political Report Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"

'' {{United States general elections, 2010

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2010 Idaho elections