Jordan for Governor: Checking her record Fellow Democrats avoided endorsements

By JUDD WILSON

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Former state Rep. Paulette Jordan’s bid for governor has garnered national headlines for the Democrat from Plummer, but not without missteps and scathing criticism.

If elected Nov. 6, Jordan would become the first woman governor in Idaho’s history and the first Native American governor in U.S. history.

But if she falters against Republican Lt. Gov. Brad Little, missteps from the launching pad might provide some explanation.

On Feb. 7, Jordan gave a speech officially resigning from the Legislature. However, it was not until afterward that she learned she had not followed the proper procedure to ensure her District 5 seat would be filled. As a result, the seat her constituents elected her to serve in sat empty for a week, observed Lewiston Tribune opinion page editor Marty Trillhaase in a July 13 column.

Then on Feb. 28, Jordan sent out a campaign email claiming “For the last four years, I’ve served in the state Legislature as the only Democrat ever elected to represent northern Idaho — something I am tremendously proud of.” Dozens of Democrats from North Idaho have served in the Idaho legislature during the state’s history.

When confronted by William Spence of the Lewiston Tribune over the blatant error, Jordan claimed “staff error” for the false claim, and admitted she had not checked the email for accuracy before it went out.

An April 28 email from the Jordan campaign with the sender line, “Idaho Dems (via Paulette Jordan)” led members of the party to flood state headquarters with concerns that the state party had chosen to endorse Jordan prior to the primary election. The Idaho Democratic Party uses the handle “Idaho Dems” on its website and social media accounts.

The state party was forced to issue a press release May 1 to disavow the email and clarify its neutral position. The Jordan campaign remained silent on the issue until later in the day, when Jordan refused to apologize and pointed at a glossy mailer her primary opponent, A.J. Balukoff, had sent out using the term “Idaho Democrats.”

On May 7, Jordan’s field and political director, Jennifer Martinez, resigned, citing disagreements about the direction of the campaign. The next day, on May 8, Jordan’s deputy campaign manager and treasurer Emily Mowrer resigned as well. Martinez had previously served as financial director for the Idaho Democratic Party.

On July 8, Jordan was again caught in a precarious situation when she tweeted that if elected governor she would sign Medicaid expansion into law. According to Idaho Code 34-1813, voter initiatives such as Proposition 2 do not require the signature of the governor. Voter initiatives take effect when the secretary of state canvasses the total number of votes for and against the measure. The governor only issues a proclamation declaring the law in effect if voters have approved it. Jordan was doubly wrong on this count because if voters approve Proposition 2 this November, the governor who issues that proclamation will be the still-presiding Gov. Butch Otter.

HE SAID IT

“Jordan doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Trillhaase wrote in a column supporting the Medicaid expansion effort. Trillhaase observed that “a former two-term state legislator, let alone her party’s candidate for governor,” should know how the law works in Idaho.

During the primary election season, Jordan garnered zero endorsements from her fellow Democratic legislators despite having spent four years working alongside them. On the other hand, Balukoff, who never served in the Legislature, was endorsed by 12 of the state’s 16 Democratic legislators, including several who endorsed him after the controversial April 28 campaign fundraising email.

For her part, House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel said she didn’t endorse Jordan because she wanted to support whomever could win the general election. Rubel thought “the best course was to sit back, let people decide,” and get behind the candidate who could rally their enthusiasm. As a result, she remained neutral.

As for House Minority Leader Rep. Mat Erpelding, he said he was in a tough situation because he had signed on with Balukoff in August 2017.

“Once she was in the election, I was caught between two admirable candidates,” he said.

NOT PICKING SIDES

Despite partnering with her on Jordan’s much-heralded rural teachers bill, Rep. Sally Toone was one of four Democratic state legislators to remain neutral during the primary season.

Now the Democratic nominee for governor, Jordan has established a pattern of behavior of remaining isolated from Idaho media yet accessible to national outlets such as CNN, The Atlantic and The New York Times.

A similar dynamic exists on the political scene. Where Balukoff had dozens of endorsements from Idaho Democrats who have served in federal, state, county, or city government, Jordan’s chief endorsements in the primary campaign came from Cher, cable news commentator Van Jones, and national groups Planned Parenthood, People for Bernie Sanders, Indivisible, People for the American Way, and Democracy for America.

Erpelding, the senior Democrat in the state House, said Jordan’s decision to run for the state’s highest office caught him completely by surprise.

“I didn’t know she was going to run,” he said, adding, “I had no inkling she’d run.”

However, after Jordan declared her candidacy, Erpelding was one of those party leaders who reaffirmed their endorsement for Balukoff after the April 28 email controversy.

IDAHO COLD SHOULDER

Idaho Politics Weekly columnist Chuck Malloy wrote Aug. 3 that he has been stonewalled by the Jordan campaign in attempting to get an interview with the Idaho candidate. However, she is readily available to national media, he explained.

“A campaign staffer says that Jordan gets ‘hundreds’ of interview requests, and it’s hard to keep track of them,” Malloy wrote. “If that’s the case, they must be coming from outside the state. There are not ‘hundreds’ of political stories floating around the Gem State during the dog days of summer, or ‘hundreds’ of Idaho reporters chasing down candidates. At least for now, Idaho reporters who want to interview Jordan are pushed to the back of the line. It’s not a bad communications strategy ... if she were running for president of the United States and scrambling for electoral votes. But it’s not a smart call for somebody running for governor of Idaho.”

Chris Carlson, a lifelong Idaho Democrat and press secretary for former Interior Secretary and governor of Idaho Cecil Andrus, observed in a July 11 column that Jordan claims to be a leader but has never led an organization.

He added that she is running for reasons of ego and sees the office as a stepping stone to the next post, that she doesn’t write personal thank you notes to those who help her, and that she campaigns only at known party gatherings and on social media.

In his farewell column July 30, Carlson announced he was dying of neuroendocrine cancer. His last political advice to Idahoans was to vote for Little. He called Jordan “the most unqualified candidate I’ve seen in years. It’s shameful that she is carrying the D standard.”

WHAT LIES AHEAD

Jordan’s lopsided primary election victory over Balukoff proved that Idaho’s Democratic voters want her to carry that standard. Still, Trillhaase’s July 13 question persists. After all, according to her LinkedIn resumé, Jordan was “selected as the Idaho At-Large Delegate for the Democratic National Convention 2009 & 2012 Presidential Election Cycles.”

There was no Democratic National Convention in 2009.

“The election is four months away, way past time for Jordan’s rookie mistakes. If she can’t manage her campaign any better than this, how does she expect to run the state of Idaho?” asked Trillhaase.

Jordan and her staff have not returned repeated interview requests from The Press through the summer.