1970 Idaho gubernatorial election

1970 Idaho gubernatorial election
	County results; Andrus: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% ; Samuelson: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80–90%
Governor before election; Don Samuelson; Republican	Elected Governor ; Cecil Andrus; Democratic

The 1970 Idaho gubernatorial election took place on November 3 to elect the governor of Idaho, concurrently with other scheduled governor races, as well as Idaho's two congress members in the House of Representatives and a number of statewide offices. Incumbent Republican governor Don Samuelson sought re-election to a second consecutive term as governor. Although he faced a primary challenger, former state senator Dick Smith, he received more than 58 percent of the primary vote, and thus secured the party's re-nomination.^[1]

The Democratic nominee, Cecil Andrus, had previously run for governor in 1966, after Democratic nominee Charles Herndon was killed in a plane crash in the central Idaho mountains in mid-September.^[2]^[3]

Andrus faced two competitors in the primary: state representative Vernon Ravenscroft and attorney Lloyd Walker. In the party primary, Andrus won a plurality of 29,000 votes (46 percent), and earned the Democratic nomination.^[4] During the general election campaign, issues of contention included environmental conservation, taxes, and education funding.^[5]

In the rematch of 1966, Andrus won the general election of 1970 with 128,004 votes, or 52.22 percent of the ballots cast.^[6] He carried all regions of the state except for the south-central region; however, he significantly under-performed in rural areas, where Democrats usually achieved their highest margins, while exceeding expectations in the state's affluent urban areas.^[5]

The general election campaign was then one of the most costly in Idaho's history; however, voter turnout was unusually low, at 67 percent of the voting-age population. Despite the Democrats' victory in the gubernatorial election, their success failed to trickle down the ballot: Andrus was one of only two Democrats to win a statewide office in the election, and both of Idaho's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives remained in the hands of Republicans.^[7]

This was the first of six consecutive Democratic gubernatorial victories, unbroken until 1994, with Andrus winning four.

^ Cite error: The named reference R Primary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Air crash kills Idaho candidate for governor". Morning-Record. (Meriden, Connecticut). Associated Press. September 16, 1966. p. 17.
^ "Andrus is likely ballot successor". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 16, 1966. p. 1.
^ Cite error: The named reference D Primary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference election1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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[R_Primary-1] Cite error: The named reference R Primary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ackicfg-2] "Air crash kills Idaho candidate for governor". Morning-Record. (Meriden, Connecticut). Associated Press. September 16, 1966. p. 17.

[ailbs-3] "Andrus is likely ballot successor". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 16, 1966. p. 1.

[D_Primary-4] Cite error: The named reference D Primary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[election1-5] Cite error: The named reference election1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[results-6] Cite error: The named reference results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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