Decision to fill House seat swims in uncharted waters

Friday’s expulsion of former Rep. John Green from his Legislative District 2 seat prompted a swell of activity as local Republicans consider who will replace the lawmaker convicted last week of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

As chair of District 2, Mike Towan said it’s his job to remain neutral and move the proceedings along in an organized fashion.

“I’ve been trying to stay out of the political stuff,” Towan said Monday. “As chairman, I’ve tried to maintain that objectivity. As a precinct committeeman, I’ll be able to vote. But I’m letting the others caucus over who should be on the list.”

But the theory of objectivity, Towan said, only gets so much traction when exposed to the open air of reality.

“Since Friday,” he said, “I’ve been getting non-stop calls from friend and foe alike.”

Those calls have been the political stuff left behind by campaigns to influence a rare vote, one that will decide who will represent Green’s District 2, Seat B: rare not because a vote chooses Green’s replacement, but rare because of who is voting.

Under Idaho Code, the partisan central committee that last held the vacant seat must submit a list of three recommended candidates to the governor’s office for his or her selection. More specifically, that list is to be decided by the precinct committee representatives from the district in which the vacant position sits. In this case, that’s 22 representatives from Legislative District 2, all chaired by Towan.

“Obviously, I’m getting a lot of calls asking what I think,” Towan said. “As far as caucusing goes, I’ve got a hard enough job to do, and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to say who should or shouldn’t be a nominee, aside from my single vote among all the others.”

Ordinarily, such a meeting would be held at a church, municipal building or other public venue, Towan said. Today’s meeting will be held at MacKenzie River Pizza Company at 7 p.m. While state laws do not dictate this as a private meeting, no other members of the KCRCC or the general public will have the forum to express their opinions, concerns or votes.

Two names that could have already been thrown around for inclusion on the appointment suggestion list belong to Tim Kastning and Doug Okuniewicz. Kastning filled in as a temporary appointment while Green was on trial in Texas. He returned shortly before the Idaho Legislature voted 65-0 to vacate Green’s seat. He is also running for the currently open seat.

“Just because I’m running, I believe I’m going to be nominated,” Kastning said, “but the decision they’re going to make is going to be up to them. I would imagine, being a candidate for the district, that my name will be nominated. But that’s really up to the people in that room to decide.”

Okuniewicz is also anticipating someone will nominate him, though he emphasized a nomination is no guarantee either he or Kastning will make the final list of three. The general manager of the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls already declared his intent to run.

“One of the disadvantages we have right now is that there are a number of these people who represent District 2 who are going to be voting tomorrow who don’t really know all the candidates” he said. “We don’t really know each other. With some of them, they don’t know me; I don’t know them … It would be nice to spend time with them, so they can have a better understanding of the candidates.”

As for whether or not the meeting is public is still up for grabs. The MacKenzie River Pizza Company is a public place, but the banquet room it holds is relatively small. Only Legislative District 2 members have the right to vote on the matter, per Idaho Republican Party rules. Towan added that only voting Legislative District 2 members have the right to vote or contribute. Of the 22 eligible voters, Towan said he expects only 13 to 16 precinct committee members to show, as many are out of town or unavailable to reach.

“We’re trying to keep it as public as we can,” Towan said, “but we’re limited on space. There’s no requirement for it to be public, from what we were told by legal counsel. We’ll have those 13 to 16 precinct committee members. I’ll be there. The vice chair will be there. The secretary and parliamentarian will be there, and then we’ll have people from Legislative Districts 3 and 4 there as vote counters. So it’s going to be a tight space.”

Ultimately, Towan said, he expects the process to be unique.

“I’m going to do the best I can to follow the state rules,” he said, “and the local bylaws.”