(Source: The Spokesman-Review)
By Betsy Z. Russell, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Nov. 29--BOISE -- 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson says he hasn't endorsed a candidate in the Republican primary for Idaho's 1st District congressional seat, though his name appears along with those of U.S. House GOP leaders on an invitation for a Dec. 8 fundraiser for candidate Vaughn Ward in Washington, D.C.
Simpson spokeswoman Nikki Watts said, "Mr. Ward asked Congressman Simpson if he could use his name on the event invitation for the event in D.C., and my boss said yes, and he would do the same for any other Republican running in the 1st CD."
Watts said, "Primaries are very difficult, and so he just wants to support all of the Republicans. ... We're doing this and we'll do it for anybody else."
Ward, an Iraq war veteran, has been running hard for a chance to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick. Earlier, state House GOP Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, was in the race, but he dropped out. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, says he's planning to jump in, and former Congressman Bill Sali has been mulling a possible comeback.
The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., reported that an array of national GOP leaders, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will headline the fundraiser for Ward in Washington, D.C., showing that "Republican leaders are asserting their preference in the primary."
Sali says 'stay tuned'
While strolling across downtown Boise in the crisp fall sunshine last week, I ran into none other than former Idaho Congressman Bill Sali. Of course, I had to ask him: Is he running again for his old seat in Idaho's 1st District? "Stay tuned," Sali responded. Asked how long I should stay tuned, Sali was noncommittal, saying until he decides one way or another.
As he tried to get in his car and drive away, I asked him why, if he's still considering running, he raised no campaign funds in the last quarter. "If I don't run, I don't want to have to give it back to people and go through all that mess," Sali responded. "When I'm running, I should raise money, and when I am not, I shouldn't. That's the honorable thing."
When I asked him what he plans to do about his remaining campaign debt, which is over $100,000, Sali responded again, "Stay tuned."
Why state banned severance
There's nothing in the record that shows why lawmakers passed legislation in 1993, with only one dissenting vote in either house, to ban severance payments to state employees who leave voluntarily.