O-SenseSome thoughts on a few, somewhat random, topics...
Beck/Smith Effort to Depose Political Opponents Goes to Court on April 7. Last week I broke the story about Bonneville County GOP chair Doyle Beck and Republican Region 7 chair Bryan Smith asking a court to order depositions of some of those working to defeat them by recruiting and supporting precinct chairs in theMay 17 primary (you can see my original article here).
Last week the two were granted such an order but opponents immediately noticed up the matter for a hearing on a motion to reconsider. The fireworks will play out in an Idaho Falls hearing before senior judge Richard T. St. Clair on Thursday, April 7.
The lead attorney for the opponents is prominent Idaho Falls attorney Timothy Hopkins. Hopkins was the attorney who beat back the attempt by former state GOP chair Barry Peterson to remain in office after the Republican convention failed to cast a vote in 2014 (here is a news story on that ruling). He’ll be going up again against attorney Christ Troupis who represented (unsuccessfully) Peterson in that matter.
State GOP Chair Steve Yates, one of Beck/Smith’s targets, told the Idaho Falls Post Register that this effort is “baseless, hypocritical and unconstitutional”.
Stay tuned . . .
How Republicans Should Handle Their Races if Trump is the GOP Nominee. I love Campaign and Elections magazine. Right now it has a great article (review here) on the potential impact of Donald Trump’s nomination as the Republican candidate on down-ticket races. It makes suggestions about how to handle the turbulence.
The following quote by Republican consultant Jason Cabel Roe is fascinating:
“He is almost certain doom for Republicans in November and he likely costs us control of the Senate, possibly House seats, governors and state legislatures,” Roe told C&E. “While it's true Trump has energized an element of the electorate previously unengaged, we have to account for the people he is chasing away. When you look at his poor approval ratings among Millennials and Hispanics, it's hard to ignore the negative impact he will have on us in the future.”
If you are a Republican (or running against one) this article is well worth the read.
Keep an Eye on Rep. Wendy Horman. One legislative star this year was Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Ammon). A member of the all-powerful Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee, this House member in only her second term carried the bills on the House floor that appropriated about 60% of the state budget. Her specialty is education, one of the top priorities of Idaho voters. Horman formerly served on the District 93 school board and is an accomplished organist. She is clearly a rising GOP star.
Favorable/Unfavorable Numbers for Presidential Candidates. The Gallup organization continues to put out invaluable data on the presidential race. The latest analysis can be viewed here. Gallup, using updated data, summarizes the remaining Democrat and Republican presidential candidates’ favorable and unfavorable numbers as follows:
| Candidate | Favorable | Unfavorable | Net |
| Donald Trump | 30% | 65% | -35% |
| Ted Cruz | 32% | 48% | -16% |
| John Kasich | NA | NA | +19% |
| Hillary Clinton | 42% | 53% | -11% |
| Bernie Sanders | NA | NA | +10% |
Note: Gallup provided only the net numbers for Kasich and Sanders
Steve Taggart is an Idaho Falls attorney specializing in bankruptcy (www.MaynesTaggart.com). He has an extensive background in politics and public policy. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
