Idaho Senate Democrats have formalized their leadership team during the absence of state Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum. For the first time in 10 years, the Wood River Valley will be without a representative in a leadership position in the Idaho Legislature.
Stennett announced Monday that he will not be attending this year's legislative session so he can focus on his recovery from treatment for brain cancer. Stennett had been the leader of the minority Democrats since 1998.
In a caucus meeting Wednesday, Idaho Democratic senators elected Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, as their new minority leader. Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, will be assistant minority leader, while Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, will serve as minority caucus chairman.
The leadership team will be in place while Stennett is on sick leave, a news release from the Idaho Senate Minority Office states.
"As a caucus, we consulted with Sen. Stennett before today's vote," Kelly said in a prepared statement. "He encouraged us to do what is in the best interest of a strong and unified Democratic presence in Senate, in the Legislature and in the state.
"The caucus unanimously decided that we need a full team of three leaders to serve this session. We stand ready to take on the challenges facing us."
The vote is the second significant change in the roles local District 25 legislators will play in Idaho's capital city this year. Last December, Stennett's colleague in the Idaho House of Representatives, Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, announced that she was relinquishing her position as house minority leader to focus instead on a new post on the powerful Joint Finance Appropriations Committee.
Jaquet, who was named minority leader in 1998, said the committee, made up of key members of both the Senate and House, wields enormous power in the state, deciding which agencies and programs receive adequate financing and which are left to struggle.
"These funding decisions are critical to the success of many issues that concern us all, and I'm looking forward to this new challenge," she said at the time.
Nevertheless, the loss of the two key leadership positions in one session raises questions about the ongoing influence of District 25 at the state level.
Local Democratic elected officials from Blaine County say the respect District 25 legislators have in Boise will help. That respect extends to Jaquet, Blaine County Commissioner Tom Bowman said Thursday.
"She is so well regarded in the state," he said. "Her change to JFAC will not change her ability to serve District 25. You could make the argument that she is in a more influential spot."
Local Democrats are suggesting that should Stennett return to the Senate in time for next year's legislative session, the Senate Democrats will likely take another vote to name their 2010 leadership team.
"With Clint being the leader," said former Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson, who is serving in Stennett's place during the 2009 session. During that time, he said, Senate Democrats are taking up Stennett's legislative priorities.
Thorson said he and other Democratic senators are keeping in close contact with Stennett.
"The issues he's key on are not being dropped," he said.
Thorson, who has taken on Stennett's assignments to the State Affairs, and Resources and Environment committees, said he can't walk 10 steps in the Idaho Capitol without being stopped by legislators asking about Stennett.
Thorson said Republicans and Democrats alike ask him, "How's Clint? How's he doing? We miss him."
"He's a well respected, well-loved man here," Thorson said.
One thing that hasn't changed this year is Republicans' dominance in the Idaho Legislature. In the Senate, they outnumber Democrats 28 to seven, while in the House the breakdown is 52 Republicans to 18 Democrats.
Jason Kauffman: jkauffman@mtexpress.com
