IDAHO WILL SEE RARE CONSTITUTION PARTY RUNOFF

Maybe a "yes" vote for an Idaho-based health insurance exchange wasn't the political hot potato it had been baked up to be.

In the shadow of the 2013 Idaho Legislature's majority vote to approve a state-run insurance marketplace, more than a few Statehouse insiders had pointed to how lawmakers- and particularly the 45 Republican Idaho legislators who voted for it-could be targeted in the 2014 Republican Primary.

Indeed, when 2014 primary filings had been confirmed by the Secretary of State's Office, 15 of those GOP legislators who had voted yes for an exchange had challengers in the May Republican primary-but so did 14 GOP lawmakers who voted against the exchange. One of those GOP incumbents who voted yes, eight-term Sen. Shawn Keough, representing Legislative District 1 in Idaho'sPanhandle, has more than a political fight within her own party to consider. If she survives the May GOP primary, she'll have at least one more opponent in the general election- from the Constitution Party of Idaho.

"I guess we'll be seting up a separate primary ballot for the Constitution Party," Charlie Wurm, Bonner County deputy clerk and chief of elections, told Boise Weekly.

Among those state Senate candidates who have filed to run in District 1 are Christian Fioravanti of Bonners Ferry and Jack Mervin of the tiny town of Blanchard, both Constitution Party candidates, which will force a rare primary ballot for the party that boasts only 1,713 registered members statewide. Ballots will need to be printed for Bonner and Boundary counties, which both sit within the boundaries of District 1.

"The only people who can vote in that particular primary will be members of the Constitution Party," Tim Hurst, chief deputy in the Secretary of State's Office, told BW. "The only other situation might be is if an unaffiliated voter chose to be affiliated with the Constitution Party. That could increase their numbers, but those two counties are predominantly Republican."

As of March 6, only 71 citizens in Bonner County and 13 in Boundary County were officially registered with the Constitution Party.

As for the cost of holding an election for such a select number of voters, it turns out that since there needs to be a primary anyway for each of the three seats in District 1, the true cost of the Constitution Party primary will be driven per ballot cast.

"The optical scan ballots, used in Bonner County, are about 23 to 25 cents apiece and the old-fashioned paper ballots, used in Boundary County, are about 10 cents apiece," said Hurst.

- George Prentice