Idaho Dispatch

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Sen. Guthrie Announces Run for Senate Majority Leader

By • September 9, 2024

State Senator Jim Guthrie (R-McCammon) has announced his run for Senate Majority Leader in an email obtained by Idaho Dispatch that was sent to his senate colleagues.

The email says, in full (minus the senator’s personal cell phone number):

“Smoke and sometimes warm temperatures aside, I hope summer has been good for all of you. In this email I am reaching out to all current members of the Senate majority caucus to express my intention to run for the position of Senate majority leader. I will reach out separately to others likely to join our caucus after the November election. This is not a decision reached easily but I make it with the utmost confidence and work ethic needed to fulfill this important leadership role.

During my 12 years in the Senate, I have had the privilege of serving with some extraordinary leadership talent and the mentorship they provided and the examples they set has helped prepare me for this position. I am a pragmatist, and specific to the majority leader role, I understand any effort to fill the shoes of a Senator Davis, a Senator Winder, or a Senator Anthon would only be a disservice to my Senate colleagues and myself. My leadership style will be different, but I promise to give my best effort to each of you.

It is not lost on me that we have a caucus with more diversity than in any time since I have been in Boise and without a doubt that can come with challenges. I submit to you that we can let those challenges end in stalemate or consider them opportunities for consensus building. Different perspectives can stimulate a more thoughtful process in finding the best path forward as we make important policy decisions. My goal will be to respect those differences of opinion and work to make our majority caucus one of mutual respect as we engage in open, honest discussion.

I congratulate those who have chosen to serve in the Senate as we represent our districts and serve our state. I will be reaching out soon to get your feedback, answer any questions, and work hard to gain your trust. I hope you have an amazing fall and like all of you I look forward to the 2025 session as we seek to make Idaho a better place to live and raise our families.”

Guthrie is one of several candidates running for the seat after current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder (R-Meridian) lost his primary race. Sen. Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian) also previously announced her run in an email to colleagues.

Idaho legislators will hold leadership votes later this year.

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Tags: Chuck Winder, Idaho Legislature, Jim Guthrie, Senate Majority Leader

7 thoughts on “Sen. Guthrie Announces Run for Senate Majority Leader”

  2. Readers may be interested in some additional details… (all the below and a bit more is on the Substack note here: https://substack.com/profile/68304299-big-e/note/c-68447368)

    • Sen. C. Scott Grow (R-District 14) also previously announced a run for this seat: https://gemstatechronicle.com/2024/05/press-release-senator-c-scott-grow-announces-bid-for-idaho-senate-pro-tempore/

    • Sen. Guthrie held several important bills in his desk drawer during the 2024 legislative session. See “Sen. Jim Guthrie Thinks He’s a Dictator.” By Ronald M. Nate, Ph.D. (03/25/24): https://idahofreedom.org/sen-jim-guthrie-thinks-hes-a-dictator/

    _____________________
    Conservative? Or Chuck Winder 2.0? You Decide
    _____________________

    Conservatives in Idaho may be interested in rankings of the above declared candidates and contrast them with Sen. Winder’s rankings on the Think Liberty Idaho scorecard tracker website: https://thinklibertyidaho.org/scorecard-tracker/. Think Liberty Idaho shows composite rankings from several organizations within Idaho.

    Note:
    • Organizations rank legislators based on their votes on a variety of bills.

    • Conservative organizations such as Idaho Freedom Foundation use scoring methods based on multiple objective criteria.

    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry (aka IACI), a powerful Idaho business lobby, is not conservative. IACI uses very simple scoring criteria:
    ◦ +1 legislator’s vote agrees with IACI position;
    ◦ -1 disagrees with IACI position;
    ◦ 0 IACI position on a bill is neutral.

    • Conservatives will prefer high scores for all except for IACI. For IACI, low scores are preferable.

    • Senators are shown in alphabetical order by last name.
    _____________________
    C Scott Grow (R-District 14)
    • Idaho Freedom Foundation 46.5
    • Idaho GOP Platform Rating 58.33
    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry 69
    _____________________
    Jim Guthrie (R-District 28)
    • Idaho Freedom Foundation 36.3
    • Idaho GOP Platform Rating 50
    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry 85
    _____________________
    Lori Den Hartog (R-District 22)
    • Idaho Freedom Foundation 56.7
    • Idaho GOP Platform Rating 76.47
    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry 62
    _____________________
    Chuck Winder (R-20) – Former Senate Majority Leader
    • Idaho Freedom Foundation 35.7
    • Idaho GOP Platform Rating 47.06
    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry 89
    _____________________
    Contrast the above with Sen. Dan Foreman, who is among many great conservative Idaho Senators. We have no information yet that Sen. Foreman is running for this position.

    Dan Foreman (R -District 6)
    • Idaho Freedom Foundation 91.1
    • Idaho GOP Platform Rating 94.44
    • Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry 23

  4. Jim Guthrie is not a true Republican and should not be considers for any Republican leadership role in any way.

    This is just one example as to why Jim Guthrie needs to be voted out of office.
    2023 – S.B. 1081 – Idaho Driver’s License for illegal aliens 16 or older.
    Jim Guthrie was the only sponsor of the bill as well as its author!
    Lickly it never made to out of his committee where he introduced it to the Senate. It failed due to lack of support, but this is just one example as to why Jim Guthrie is really a Democrat!

  6. Didn’t this guy run before and is a true liberal running as a Republican? Didn’t he ignore the constituents of the state and tell us if we were not in his district he would not take our calls or emails instead of being for everyone while serving that position? He hates conservatives. This guy needs to go!!

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