After an election shakeup and a resignation, Idaho Senate Republicans to elect new leadership

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Leadership of the Idaho Senate and key legislative committees is on the line this week during the organizational session of the Idaho Legislature at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

The organizational session happens every two years following a general election. During the organizational session, legislators are sworn in and Republicans and Democrats elect their leadership delegations for the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate. From there, members of Republican leadership will appoint the committee chairpersons and give legislators their committee assignments.

Much of the process happens behind closed doors, away from the public and news reporters. But the decisions made will have major ramifications for the upcoming 2025 legislative session, which begins Jan. 6. Members of the Republican leadership teams, who control a 90-15 supermajority in the Idaho Legislature, and committee chairs have power and influence over which bills go forward and which bills don’t.

This year, eyes will be on Senate Republicans as they fill two rare open spots on the GOP’s four-person leadership team. Veteran Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, was defeated in the May Republican primary election and former Senate Assistant Majority Leader Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, resigned from the Idaho Legislature this summer.

Senate Democrats, House Republicans and House Democrats will also hold leadership elections Wednesday night. The Democrats also have a leadership vacancy to fill after House Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, did not seek reelection this year. 

Committees that will be under new leadership include the House Education Committee and the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee.

Idaho Senate to fill top GOP leadership position

The Senate president pro tem is the highest ranking member of the Idaho Senate and presides over the Idaho Senate when the lieutenant governor is away. The Senate president pro tem is also second in the second in line of succession to the governor – behind the lieutenant governor. The Senate president pro tem serves as acting governor when the governor and lieutenant governor are both unable to do the job – for example when the governor and lieutenant governor are both out of state.

Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, has publicly announced he is seeking the Senate president pro tem position. In a Nov. 22 interview with the Idaho Capital Sun, Grow said he would give up his position as co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, if he is elected Senate president pro tem. JFAC is a powerful committee that sets all of the budgets for each state agency and department. 

Grow, a retired CPA who is beginning his fifth term in the Idaho Senate, said he is proud of the changes JFAC has made, like separating maintenance of operations budgets out from new spending requests. Grow hopes to continue to push to implement performance-based budgeting practices where agencies would include performance goals alongside new funding requests to add accountability to the budget process. 

If Grow is named Senate president pro tem, he would be in a better position to preserve and protect the JFAC budget changes.

Grow also would bring changes to the Idaho Senate if named president pro tem. He said he would push for Republicans in the Idaho Senate to meet before the session to develop a list of four or five major priorities for the upcoming session that Republicans agree on. Rather than introducing and debating multiple different bills on a school choice proposal, Grow would push to unite Republicans behind a single bill going into session.

“If we’re really a united, strong Senate caucus, we ought to come together and discuss various options and see if we can get one bill that everybody agrees to, so that we can go forward unitedly and present that to the rest of the Senate, and that puts us in a stronger position to accomplish the things that we would like to do,” Grow said.

Efforts to reach other potential candidates for the top opening in the Idaho Senate were unsuccessful.  

Efforts to reach Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, were unsuccessful last week.

Following Winder’s defeat, Anthon is the highest ranking surviving member of the GOP’s leadership team in the Idaho Senate, and a natural candidate to seek the president pro tem position based on his

Efforts to reach Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, were also unsuccessful last week. Den Hartog is one of the most experienced members of the Idaho Senate. On Nov. 5, Den Hartog was elected to her sixth term, as was Anthon. Den Hartog ran unsuccessfully for Senate president pro tem two years ago, losing to Winder. 

The leadership elections will take place Wednesday night in private along with caucus dinners. Results may be announced Wednesday night, otherwise the leadership teams will be announced as part of Thursday’s organizational session. 

During the Nov. 7 meeting of the Idaho Legislature’s Legislative Council, Winder spoke to the significance of the organizational session and wished returning legislators luck.

“You have some challenging times and some fun times ahead of you as you look at organizing the next legislative session,” Winder told the Legislative Council. 

18 new Idaho legislators to participate in orientation

Before the leadership elections, events begin Monday afternoon with the new legislator orientation program for the 18 newly first time legislators who were elected in the 2024 general election. New legislators will learn about legislative procedure, how bills are drafted and passed into law, public records laws, lobbying, ethics and more. The new legislator orientation program continues Tuesday and wraps up Wednesday before dinner and leadership elections.

The 2025 legislative session begins Jan. 6 with Gov. Brad Little delivering the annual State of the State address.