The Idaho Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of

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), ...

. While the party has been in the minority for most of the state's history, it has produced several notable public figures, including former U.S. senator Frank Church and former governor and secretary of the interior Cecil Andrus.

Trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

support has traditionally been a key component of Democratic success in Idaho.

History

Created in 1863 after the discovery of new mining territory, the early Idaho Territory was heavily populated by settlers from western

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and Nevada who supported a radical Republican agenda. However, towards the end of the war, Idaho became flooded with Confederate refugees from states like

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

who voted, like the miners in Idaho, heavily Democratic. The state became a Democratic stronghold for the next two decades. At the dawn of statehood, despite ceding Idaho almost entirely four years earlier to the Populists and Republicans (Cleveland won only 2 popular votes in 1892), a fusion Populist/Democratic ticket behind

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

's candidacy won the state with 78.1% of the vote with the support from Silver Republicans. Nevertheless, the three– man congressional delegation remained two-part Populist, one-part Republican. It was not until the turn of the century that Idaho saw its first Democratic representation in Congress, Senator Fred Dubois, U.S. Marshal of the Idaho Territory and a former Republican. He successfully campaigned on the disenfranchisement of

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

on the grounds that they broke the law by practicing polygamy, already having barred them form holding office while he held office in the state legislature. Ironically, while his anti– Mormonism as a Republican kept Democrats out of office after 1882, his anti-Mormonism as a Democrat had the same result after 1902. Though Democrats and Jewish governor Moses Alexander were able to implement a radically progressive agenda with the backing of the Nonpartisan League while in control during

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

's presidency, they quickly ceded power and it was not until

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's 1932 landslide that they began to turn out state and local (as well as national) Republican office holders for a sustained period of time. That year, all three congressional Republicans up for re– election were defeated by Democratic challengers by at least 11 percent. All three challengers, like their state party, were stalwart supporters of FDR's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

. Despite a turn of opinion against the federal government's programs years later, Democrats retained two of their three newly attained seats for at least 15 years and managed to control the legislature for eight until the chambers evened themselves out during and immediately after the war.

Decline

In the post-war decades, as state politics was professionalized, Republicans dominated the state legislature and the governor's mansion, but Democrats maintained a steadfast presence across all other executive offices. A platform of environmental concerns gave Idaho its last Democratic governor to date even as it became more conservative in its congressional delegation and state legislature. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, Democrats lost two key voting groups. After the national party adopted a host of liberal social issues like abortion rights and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, Idaho's

left the party in droves. Meanwhile, unions lost influence in already declining mining and timber industries. Since 1994, when four-term Democratic governor Cecil Andrus retired and Representative Larry LaRocco was defeated, only one member of the party, Walt Minnick, has won either statewide office or election to Congress; after winning election to the latter capacity in 2008, Minnick was subsequently defeated for re-election by Republican Raúl Labrador two years later. Idaho Democrats currently seat only twelve members of the state House and six members of the state Senate, slightly worse than the ~20% they held in each chamber in 1996 when the party first collapsed. Unlike with other Mountain West states, such as

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, immigration has not shifted Idaho leftward. Rather, Californians and other West Coast residents who have moved there have done so largely for cultural instead of economic reasons.

Elected officials

Members of Congress

* None

Statewide offices

* None

Legislative leadership

* Senate Minority Leader: Melissa Wintrow *Assistant Senate Minority Leader: James Ruchti *Senate Minority Caucus Chair: Janie Ward– Engelking * House Minority Leader: Ilana Rubel *Assistant House Minority Leader: Lauren Necochea *House Minority Caucus Chair: Ned Burns

Municipal

The following Democrats hold prominent mayoralties in Idaho: * Boise: Lauren McLean (1)

Chairs

*Lauren Necochea *Deborah Silver *Fred Cornworth *Evangeline "Van" Beechler * Bert Marley *Larry Kenck * R. Keith Roark * Larry Grant * Richard H. Stallings *Carolyn Boyce *Kathie Garrett * Bill Mauk *Mel Morgan *A. K. Lienhart– Minnick *Conley Ward, 1988–1991 *George Klein 1978 *John F. Greenfield 1976–77 *A. W. "Bill" Brunt 1952–1954 *John G. Walters 1958 *John Glasby *George A. Greenfield 1954– 1955 *Gilbert Larsen ?–1952 *Ed P. Brennan 1949 *Dan J. Cavanagh 1947–1948 *David L. Bush 1944–1946 *Ben W. Davis 1939 *Ira H. Taylor 1937 *T. A. Walters 1931 *Edwin M. Holden 1930 *L. E. Dillingham 1925–1929 *Dr. W. R. Hamilton ?–1918 *Joseph T. Pence 1914 *Ben R. Gray 1912 * John F. Nugent * Kirtland I. Perky 1900–1902 * George Ainslie 1890–1891 *Wayne P. Fuller 1979–1980

Election results

Presidential

Gubernatorial

References

External links

Idaho Democratic Party
{{Authority control Democratic Party Democratic Party (United States) by state