On to the general election ...

2nd Congressional District Democratic nominee Debbie Holmes celebrates with her sons Jesse and Joshua


Larry and Chris LaRocco are all smiles after Larry's big primary win in his bid for the U.S. Senate



District 19 candidate Brian Cronin and Ada County Commissioner Paul Woods


1st District Congressional candidate Walt Minnick talks with KTVB's Ysabel Bilbao

Fairy Hitchcock shows her Democratic pride

The 2008 Idaho Primary is history. Here are the results as they stand at about 11:45 p.m. Get the latest state results here.

The closest race is that between Idaho Supreme Court candidates John Bradbury and Joel Horton, who are deadlocked at 50 percent each. Debbie Holmes kicked Dave Sneddon's DINO butt by a 70-30 margin to earn a chance to take on Mike Simpson, and Larry LaRocco bested David "Not the American Idol" Archuleta by a similar margin. LaRocco delivered a blistering speech against November opponent Jim Risch tonight, calling out the Republican nominee on his "Robin Hood in Reverse" tax shift and his fealty to corporate interests over working Idahoans, and inviting Independents and Republicans to consider the LaRocco campaign. Meanwhile, 1st District candidate Walt Minnick took a good swipe at Bill Sali for his gall in showing up at Memorial Day ceremonies when he voted against the new G.I. Bill just days before.

On the inconsequential presidential ballot, Ron Paul took about 25 percent of the GOP vote, but the Channel 7 team commented how Paul's supporters were far more visible at GOP headquarters than those for presumptive nominee John McCain. On the Dem side, Barack Obama is beating Hillary Clinton by about 19 percent - not the thrashing we delivered at the caucus (where it mattered) in February, but good enough.

Also on the GOP side, some of the most conservative Idaho legislators seem to be losing to more moderate challengers, including Mark Snodgrass beating Shirley McKague and Pat Tagasuki handily defeating Curtis Bowers. It's too soon to say what happened in the District 14 race between Mike Moyle and Nancy Merrill (where write-in votes will be tallied late into the night), but Democrat Michelle Waddell will take on whoever prevails.

Update Wednesday 7:15 a.m.: Oooops, McKague won in District 20 after all, which gives second-time Dem candidate Ryndy Williams a real chance to beat this extremist former John Bircher in the general. As Dan Popkey writes in the Statesman today, the Meridian district is proving to be the battleground between dwindling ranks of conservative extremists - who narrowly prevailed in the GOP primary - and more moderate voters, so Williams (a quintessential suburbanite, the mother of four and a longtime teacher and school volunteer) should benefit.

Alas, Mike Moyle appears to have won, too. Here's hoping that the forces behind Nancy Merrill's write-in campaign will now get behind Michelle Waddell to remove the retrograde Moyle from power. These two seats - Moyle's and McKague's - deserve marquee billing and high Democratic/Independent/moderate Republican energy for November, although it'll be important to defend Boise's many progressive seats as well.

And in the end, Joel Horton beat John Bradbury by 196 votes in the SupCo race - the night's true squeaker. Many folks with whom I spoke yesterday expressed queasiness at voting for judges, and the slim margin separating the two suggests that many people had trouble making up their minds despite a very vocal Bradbury campaign. Horton's win may also reflect citizens' distaste at politicizing the judicial process. Who knows?

Several bloggers ran for office Tuesday, with mixed results. Our friend Sharon Fisher will be running for the House in District 21 after being unopposed in her Dem primary. Mountain Home Republican Tim Corder easily beat back a challenge from perennially angry man Clayton Cramer. And way up north we see that Lew Langness got the write-in votes he needed to get on the fall ballot in District 1. Since he blogs under another name, I'll leave it at that unless he - or his significant other - wants to share here.

There are plenty of other fascinating races in the pipeline for November. Add your favorites and your thoughts and analysis in the comments.

Comments

[ReggieH]

Phew! Just got off work. Great to see Debbie won. Hooray!

I'm curious as to whether or not there was a very good turnout for Democrats in comparison to previous years.

[Julie in Boise]

Hey Reggie ... I am just about ready to sign off. Overall turnout was about 30 percent, which is about what was expected. Obviously, the GOP ballot drew more action than the Dem side statewide, but Dems polled strong in many areas. As noted above, the best news may be how some of the most conservative Republican state lawmakers are losing, which could either indicate some Dem crossover or (more likely) that Idaho Republicans are turning away from their extremist elements.

[sharon fisher]

And people say there's no Democrats in Kuna.

In an election year and a district with no contested Democratic primaries, I got 852 votes, for 15% of the total. My Democratic challenger compatriot in District 21, received a similar number and proportion.

The two multi-term incumbents barely held on -- and a challenger upset my opponent, John Vander Woude of Nampa, a one-term incumbent. So now instead of running against an incumbent, I'm in the odd position of being the more experienced candidate, due to my background with the Legislature.

Obviously some people in District 21 are ready for a change. I just need to make sure it's in my direction. :)

[Julie in Boise]

Go, Sharon! I am very excited about your race, and it was great talking to you about it last night. Be sure to let us know when your ActBlue page goes live.

[theresa]

wow I am seeing in the Statesman ...
Early polling results show only about 15 percent of Idaho's registered voters showed up for the primary election in what could be the lowest recorded turnout in a state primary contest since the 1970s.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/393139.html

I am surprised!

t

[Julie in Boise]

If that's true, it's really pathetic.

The Statesman also made a good case in its editorial today for moving the primary to the third Tuesday in May rather than the fourth. Holding an election the day after Memorial Day is just asking for low turnout.

On the plus side, I think people also stayed away (especially on the Dem side) because the presidential nominations have been settled. They'll be back in droves for November, when Idahoans will have a real chance to help change the country's direction from fear and war to hope and cooperation.

[sharon fisher]

Sorry to see Thayn squeaked through after all.

[Liz]

When will they post the official results?

[Julie in Boise]

The Secretary of State website has all the results, though they're still labeled "unofficial." Click my name or below.

http://www.sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/enr/statewide_total.html

[Julie in Boise]

Aye, Steven Thayn's win in his three-way race was a disappointment, but there is a Dem - Bob Solomon - waiting to take him on this fall.

http://solomonforidaho.com/node/1

Again, you simply have to figure that Thayn is NOT representative of the good people of the Emmett and Middleton area. He got 38 percent.