Piotrowski looks to unseat Labrador

COEUR d’ALENE — James Piotrowski, a first-time Democratic candidate, has set his sights on Republican Congressman Raul Labrador’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but first he has to beat two challengers in the primary.

Piotrowski will face Shizandra Fox and Staniela Nikolova for the Democratic nomination in the May 17 primaries this year.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he said during an interview in Coeur d’Alene Thursday. “I am not going to deny that it is going to be difficult, but it is worth it.”

Piotrowski is an attorney and conservationist who has lived in Boise for the past 18 years. He was planning to run in 2018 against Labrador, but after watching the Congressman try to push legislation to transfer federal lands to be managed by Idaho he felt a sense of urgency and decided to run this year.

He said he has been watching Idaho politics evolve over the years, and he has grown more concerned recently with what is happening in Washington, D.C.

Piotrowski said he used to think Labrador’s land transfer issue was “just another Tea Party pipe dream.”

“But it is actually a real threat,” he said. “In fact, they are asking for hearings on these bills. They are pushing hard and they want to get something done.”

Piotrowski said Labrador is also teaming up with House leadership and Sen. Ted Cruz, who also support his efforts.

As a lawyer and conservationist, Piotrowski said he is deeply concerned about transferring federal lands to the states. He said he has spent 18 years protecting wild places.

“First of all Idaho doesn’t know how to manage land in the same way the federal government can,” he said. “That is deeply concerning to me.”

Piotrowski said Labrador essentially wants the ability to manage the lands, without accepting the responsibility for fighting wildfires on them.

He said by shifting the management responsibilities to the state, those lands would no longer be subject to federal environmental protection laws. That’s a point Labrador says would put an end to federal lawsuits that are preventing federal land managers from doing fire prevention work in the forests.

Earlier this month, Labrador said the Idaho Land Board conducted a study that showed Idaho’s forests are much healthier than the federal lands in Idaho.

Piotrowski said he considers that report to be flawed. He said the definition of healthy could be many different things.

“Is their definition of health based on lumber production?” Piotrowski asked, adding Idaho manages its lands for maximum economic return.

Nevertheless, Piotrowski said there is a need to do fire prevention work on the federal forests. He would like to see a massive program to manually treat all the federal lands using the resources of the federal government.

He said his plan would address forest health and wildfires, create jobs and produce some wood products.

Piotrowski also favors collaborative planning when it comes to managing the federal lands. He said several of them have successfully averted lawsuits in Idaho.

“When you reach a collaborative deal, everyone gets up and walks away from the table a little unhappy with it,” he said. “That’s when you know you have a good deal. Nobody gets everything they wanted, but it is better than the alternative.”

Piotrowski said his gut feeling is Americans are getting fed up with all the bickering over natural resource issues.

“I think Americans are tired of battling over all these issues — it is exhausting,” he said.

The country also needs to focus on the economy, Piotrowski said. Idaho is finally starting to see growth in the manufacturing and food processing industries, he said, and noted the technology center is starting to pick up as well.

Piotrowski said he has a degree in economics and wants to put that to use in Washington, D.C.

“We need to figure out what it is going to take to grow our economy and keep our kids here in Idaho,” he said.

He said investing in infrastructure will create jobs directly, but also well into the future. He would also focus on making college more affordable and reduce interest rates on student loans.

Piotrowski said in the construction industry they have apprenticeship programs for people who want to learn the construction trades. He said a worker can go through the apprenticeship for little to no cost to them, and come out a journeyman, making $60,000 in some cases.

He said he believes there are things he can do at the federal level to expand apprenticeships, both union and non-union programs. He said a well-trained workforce would attract more industry to Idaho.

Piotrowski knows he has an uphill battle this year, but he thinks it is possible to win. He said in the post-war era the First District Congressional seat has been held six times by Democrats and nine times by Republicans.

“And Larry Craig held that seat for 10 years, so that kind of skews the numbers,” he said. “But what that shows is that it is not a Republican seat, it is a swing seat.”

Piotrowski is counting on the fact that people are fed up with the gridlock in Congress.

“And a big part of that is Raul Labrador,” he said, referring to Labrador’s recent involvement in an effort to unseat the speaker of the House and other “obstructionist behaviors.”

“America is ready for a change and I think we are seeing that in the presidential elections.”