Idaho, Secretary of State

Idaho held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 9, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the election, the sitting secretary of state was Lawerence Denney (R), who was first elected in 2014. Denney announced on April 19, 2017, that he would seek re-election in 2018.
At the time of the 2018 election, Idaho was a Republican trifecta. It gained this status when Gov. Phil Batt (R) took office in 1995. Idaho was a Republican triplex in 2018.
Idaho had been won by the Republican candidate in each of the five presidential elections leading up to the 2018 election. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 40 percent margin in 2000 while the narrowest was John McCain's 25 percent margin in 2008.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Idaho from 2000 to 2016.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Idaho every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Idaho 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	59.26%	Hillary Clinton	27.49%	31.77%
2012	Mitt Romney	64.53%	Barack Obama	32.62%	31.91%
2008	John McCain	61.52%	Barack Obama	36.09%	25.43%
2004	George W. Bush	68.38%	John Kerry	30.26%	38.12%
2000	George W. Bush	67.17%	Al Gore	27.64%	39.53%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Idaho from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Idaho 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Mike Crapo	66.13%	Jerry Sturgill	27.73%	38.40%
2014	Jim Risch	65.33%	Nels Mitchell	34.67%	30.66%
2010	Mike Crapo	71.18%	Tom Sullivan	24.93%	46.25%
2008	Jim Risch	57.65%	Larry LaRocco	34.11%	23.54%
2004	Mike Crapo	99.18%	Scott McClure	0.82%	98.36%
2002	Larry Craig	65.16%	Allan Blinken	32.55%	32.61%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2014

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2014. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Idaho.

Election results (Governor), Idaho 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	C. L. 'Butch' Otter	53.52%	A. J. Balukoff	38.55%	14.97%
2010	C. L. 'Butch' Otter	59.11%	Keith Allred	32.85%	26.26%
2006	C. L. 'Butch' Otter	52.67%	Jerry Brady	44.11%	8.56%
2002	C. Dirk Kempthorne	56.28%	Jerry Brady	41.73%	14.55%

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Idaho Party Control: 1992-2020
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-six years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

Demographic data for Idaho

	Idaho	U.S.
Total population:	1,652,828	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	82,643	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	49.9%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	91.7%	73.6%
Black/African American:	0.6%	12.6%
Asian:	1.3%	5.1%
Native American:	1.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.6%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	11.8%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.5%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	25.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$47,583	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	16.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Idaho.

As of July 2017, Idaho had a population of approximately 1,716,943 people, and its three largest cities were Boise (pop. est. 223,154), Meridian (pop. est. 95,623), and Nampa (pop. est. 91,382).