Idaho can’t elect an attorney general who denies the results of the 2020 election

Why write a column like the one I write for the Idaho Statesman? Friends joke with me that I’m getting things off my chest, views I couldn’t express as the Boise State president for fear of jeopardizing the university in the legislative process. Boise State came first, so I just zipped my lips when I found myself in a situation where my views of the world differed dramatically from a legislator with a different take on things.

I suppose there’s some truth to the “getting things off my chest” theory but hardly what motivates my interest in a column commenting on Idaho politics. I’ve moved on from my days as an elected official and my days as a university president. I really don’t need a column to top off my Sunday morning breakfast. Nor do I believe for a minute that I am changing the minds of legions of readers who are just waiting to hear my take on things so they can quickly adjust their thinking.

What I do believe in these times of peril for our democracy is that citizens who believe in the rule of law, who believe in state-certified election results, who believe in the orderly transfer of power from one administration to another, must speak up loudly and clearly. We cannot stand idly by as we witness the withering of the democratic process and how far we have fallen from the norms of a constitutional democracy. (The Jan. 6 insurrection at our nation’s capital is the best evidence of that.)

From the birth of our nation, our political parties have differed over how best to work toward a more perfect union. That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it should be in our two-party system that has evolved over the years. But in the past, the two parties, no matter how much they differed on the issues, could agree on the election result.

Those were the days when the losing candidate and party conceded to the victor, thereby agreeing on the election result. George W. Bush’s exceedingly narrow win over Al Gore in 2000 that was finally decided by the U.S. Supreme Court is a case in point when the Democrats conceded defeat and moved on for the good of the country. The 1960 close race between Kennedy and Nixon is another example. In that case, Nixon and the Republicans conceded to Kennedy and decided to fight another day.

What’s that old saying attributed to Mark Twain? History may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. In this case, our current day politics doesn’t seem to repeat itself or rhyme. Unlike the elections that sent Kennedy and George W. Bush to the White House, significant numbers of Republicans today refuse to admit that the 2020 election was legitimate even though it was certified by Republican and Democratic election officials across the nation.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, said it best. As she tours the country standing up for our electoral process, her words ring as true here in Idaho as they did in Arizona recently when she said, “If you care about democracy and you care about the survival of our republic, then you need to understand — we all have to understand — that we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honor elections.”

Yet, that is exactly what Republicans running for office this year are offering their voters — the Big Lie — denying the legitimacy of the 2020 election. The Washington Post recently reported that a majority of Republican nominees on the ballot this November for the House, Senate and key statewide offices have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election. That is 53% of the 569 Republicans incumbents and challengers analyzed, 299 in all.

One of those election deniers will come as no shock to Idaho voters. Raul Labrador, currently running as the Republican nominee for Idaho attorney general, declared in a recent debate with his Democratic opponent, Tom Arkoosh, that the 2020 election was “stolen in plain sight” which is consistent with Labrador’s prior criticism of fellow Republican, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, whom he defeated in the May primary. Labrador assailed Wasden for refusing to join the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 election by invalidating the results in four battleground states Donald Trump lost.

The Democratic nominee for attorney general, Tom Arkoosh, harbors no such nonsense as Labrador panders to his right-wing base. Arkoosh understands that our elections lay at the foundation of any democracy, and you don’t throw out election results just because you didn’t win. Once elected officials or their challengers deny election outcomes that have been certified by election officials, we are on our way to ripping apart the fabric that holds our democracy together and handing our governments over to despots and strongmen.

It’s dangerous enough when rank-and-file Republicans deny the 2020 election was legitimate, but it’s a far more serious matter when a candidate running for attorney general, the state of Idaho’s chief interpreter and defender of the law, uses a throwaway line in a debate to charge the 2020 election was stolen.

Labrador’s flippant remark about the 2020 election outcome jibes with his questionable career in Congress and his failed candidacy for Idaho governor. He is best remembered for serving as a gadfly for Idaho’s right wing and filing frivolous lawsuits for media exposure.

The good news for Idaho voters is the deep and accomplished resume of Tom Arkoosh. Experience practicing law and knowledge of the law is of critical importance in the office of attorney general, and that is Tom Arkoosh’s strong suit. Arkoosh grew up on a family farm in Gooding and attended Harvard University and the University of Idaho law school. He has practiced in almost every field of law and would bring to the office exceptional legal ability and political independence critical in a state with no loyal opposition in the executive offices of state government.

There is only one issue voters need to know when voting for attorney general in the upcoming election next month. What separates these two candidates is respect for the rule of law and the support and acknowledgment of a free and fair election. Labrador makes a mockery of this bedrock principle of democracy while Tom Arkoosh’s entire career has been in preparation for serving as the Idaho attorney general who will defend the constitutional framework of our republic.

Bob Kustra served as president of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. He is host of Readers Corner on Boise State Public Radio and he writes a biweekly column for the Idaho Statesman. He served two terms as Illinois lieutenant governor and 10 years as a state legislator.