Risch: Presidential election is ‘anybody’s ball game’

COEUR d’ALENE — U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, has seen his share of political races play out. 

One might think he can anticipate who will prevail in the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Ordinarily, he’d think so, too. 

“I should be able to tell you how it’s going to come out,” Risch said Thursday in an interview with The Press. “I can’t tell you.” 

Risch said he lost a bet with his wife when President Joe Biden stayed in the race for a second term into July. He’d thought the president would drop out after Christmas. 

He said Biden was in fine form when he delivered the 2024 State of the Union Address in March — so much so that Risch thought he would see the race through to the end — but faltered during his June debate with Trump. 

“There was euphoria on our side. Obviously, that euphoria has been dampened significantly,” he said with a chuckle, referring to Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris. “But there’s 89 days left. This is anybody’s ball game.” 

One thing seems clear to Risch: The roughly 70% of voters who have already made up their minds about who they’ll vote for won’t decide the election. Instead, it will be the currently undecided voters. 

“People should be voting on issues,” he said. “The 30% in the middle decide elections and they are notorious for voting on personalities, not issues.” 

Risch said he follows the news out of Idaho, from the happenings in the Legislature to the ups and downs of North Idaho College’s effort to return to good standing with its accreditor. 

He touched on an issue impacting Idaho communities, as well as communities across the country — the fentanyl crisis. He said three words are enough to describe the federal effort to combat the crisis. 

“Not nearly enough,” Risch said. “More could be done and should be done. This is a disaster all over the country. The numbers are staggering.” 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid estimated by the Centers for Disease Control to be more potent than morphine, used to treat severe pain, such as advanced cancer pain. 

Precursor chemicals are typically produced in Asia and then shipped to Mexico, where the chemicals are used to manufacture fentanyl. The drug is then smuggled into the U.S., often in the form of pills or powder. 

Last year, 354 Idahoans died from opioid overdoses. In 2022, 42 people died due to overdoses in Kootenai County. 

Risch said the U.S. government needs to take more action to prevent fentanyl from being smuggled into the country and to cut fentanyl off at the source. 

“This administration really ought to be turning the screws on China on this,” he added. 

Closer to home, Idaho lawmakers have made recent attempts to stem the flow of fentanyl throughout the state via legislation. 

A new law creating mandatory prison sentences for fentanyl trafficking went into effect July 1. Under the law, people convicted of possessing between 4 and 14 grams of fentanyl or “any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount” of fentanyl will face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. If the fentanyl is in pill form, it would take between 100 and 249 pills to receive that sentence. 

Those convicted of possessing between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl or between 250 and 500 pills would face a mandatory five-year prison sentence and a $15,000 fine. For possession of more than 28 grams or more than 500 pills, the minimum sentence is 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. 

The bill also includes provisions for the crime of “drug-induced homicide,” meaning a person could be charged with a felony if they supply drugs that later kill someone. 

North Idaho lawmakers were divided on the legislation.

Risch emphasized that fentanyl isn’t only a problem for Idaho and the challenges it poses go beyond the substance itself. 

“It isn’t just the drugs,” he said. “People can’t work when they’re addicted to drugs. It causes all kinds of social issues.”