Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Idaho

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Idaho performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Idaho Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for the first three years while there were Republican governors in office for the last 19 years. Idaho is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Idaho spent the last 19 years under Republican trifectas.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Idaho Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Idaho State Senate. The Idaho State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Idaho House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Idaho House of Representatives. The Idaho House of Representatives is one of 9 state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Idaho, the Idaho State Senate and the Idaho House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Partisan control changes

There was one partisan control changes in Idaho during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Idaho below than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Idaho’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 28.86, which puts it at 29 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Idaho had the highest ranking was 2007, in which it ranked 17th.
• The years that Idaho had the lowest ranking were 1999 and 2000, in which it ranked 40th.
• The index type that Idaho had the highest ranking in was Unemployment Rate, in which it ranked 5th.
• The index type that Idaho had the lowest ranking in was Real GDP Per Capita, in which it ranked 45th.

Idaho SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	26	22
America's Health Rankings	16	16	12	18	14	12	14	13	16	15	12	14	20	12	19	17	8	14	9	15	17
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	15	13	21	20	22	21	22	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	33	18	14	16	16	13	19	18
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	6	4	22	26	31	13
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	6	6	7	11	12	16	19
Govt. Employment Share Population	36	36	34	35	33	35	37	36	39	34	34	33	33	31	29	29	28	26	24	23	21
Graduation Rate	13	12	12	10	12	10	11	9	9	10	9	8	10	13	10	11	13	14	15	17	13
Personal Income Per Capita	42	38	39	37	39	43	41	40	41	40	41	43	41	43	42	43	45	49	49	49	49
Poverty Rate	31	24	25	33	25	37	30	41	36	30	27	19	12	12	13	17	24	29	23	36	N/A
Real GDP per capita	46	46	44	41	43	50	50	48	45	46	46	48	46	42	44	43	43	44	43	43	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	21	20	18	17	20	21	24	26	26	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	31	21	22	25	31	38	35	34	30	32	30	28	28	28	29	28	33	32	30	31	N/A
State & local tax burden	41	37	37	33	33	36	37	40	41	33	33	31	33	30	28	29	32	26	26	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32
Unemployment Rate	18	22	23	25	28	32	40	40	41	34	26	16	13	7	5	6	18	16	28	27	23
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30	27	16	N/A
Voter Turnout	13	8	8	10	10	15	15	20	20	19	19	23	23	21	21	24	24	28	28	26	26
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	10	9	20	23	22

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Idaho state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Idaho never had a Democratic trifecta during the period of the study, but the state has had a Republican trifecta from 1995 to 2013, and before that divided government between 1992 and 1994. The Idaho state legislature has been in Republican hands since 1992. The state’s lowest SQLI ranking came near the bottom-10 class (40th) in 1999 and 2000 under a Republican trifecta, while its highest ranking (17th) also occurred under a Republican trifecta in 2007. Idaho made its largest leap in the SQLI ranking between the years 2011 and 2012, jumping nine spots in the SQLI ranking in a single year.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 28.50
• SQLI average with divided government: 31.00

Chart displaying the partisanship of Idaho government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Idaho
• Idaho State Senate
• Idaho House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs