Lincoln County commissioners narrowly survive recall election
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Commissioner Roy Hubert talks about his duties as a commissioner Friday in a trailer just outside the Lincoln County Courthouse in Shoshone.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
SHOSHONE — A pair of commissioners will remain in office despite a strong majority of voters who supported removing them.
Lincoln County commissioners Roy Hubert and Rick Ellis each survived a recall election Tuesday. Election results remain unofficial.
The measure to recall Hubert received 698 votes (73%), and the measure to recall Ellis received 704 votes (73%). However, recall elections in Idaho must meet two requirements:
- The majority of votes cast must be in favor of the recall
- The number of votes cast in favor of the recall must equal or exceed the votes cast in the last general election for the officer
Hubert got 833 votes in 2018, so his recall missed by 135 “yes” votes. Ellis got 710 votes in 2018 and his recall missed by six “yes” votes.
The recall measures were on the ballot following a dispute over whether to renovate the county’s historic courthouse or build a new one.
The county commission asked voters in November for a bond to renovate the courthouse. Voters rejected it by a wide margin. Hubert and Ellis then chose to pursue building a new courthouse, which they say would be cheaper and thus more palatable to voters.
A private citizens group, led by former County Commissioner Terry Zech, disagreed with the decision. They pointed to surveys that showed the majority of county residents still favored renovating the courthouse, and the decision to build a new one amounted to “willful disregard for the wishes and desires of the public.”
The group gathered 603 signatures, 563 of which were deemed valid, to get the recall question on the ballot.
County Clerk Brenda Farnworth wrote a guest column in the Times-News last week that asked residents to vote Hubert and Ellis out of office. She accused them of several ethics violations, including collusion and nepotism.
Hubert and Ellis have said the recall attempt came from local political players who have long tried to gain control in the county, including members of the Lincoln County Republican Central Committee. Zech, who signed the paperwork for the recall petition, is a current Central Committee member.
Ellis lost in the 2020 primary to former central committee chairwoman Joann Rutler. He will leave office at the end of the year.
Hubert has two years left on his term.
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