BOISE -- State Republican Chairman John Sandy, who drew the wrath of party conservatives for backing Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's temporary sales tax increase 2003 and of some special interests for supporting a smoking ban, is stepping down after one term.
Sandy, who served nearly eight years in the state Senate, said Thursday he would not fight former Boise Cascade Corp. executive Kirk Sullivan for the party chairmanship at the state convention June 12.
The two met for about 30 minutes Thursday to discuss party matters and the impending transition.
"When Kirk originally talked to me and told me he wanted to run, I was honest with him and told him I didn't know anyone else was in this race," Sandy said, but after considering the prospect he was ready to turn the job over.
"It was never intended to be a long-term thing to begin with," Sandy said. "There are other things we want to do, and this may well be a blessing in disguise."
Sandy rejected any suggestion that he was muscled out, either by conservatives, special interests or party leaders who are lining up with Congressman C.L. (Butch) Otter for the 2006 governor's primary against Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, with whom Sandy has been allied. Kempthorne has already said he was not planning to seek a third term.
"There's all this whining going on that I'm too close to Risch, but everything that Butch's people have asked for they've gotten," Sandy said. "Risch hasn't asked for anything."
He also discounted the party's relatively weak fund-raising efforts compared to past election cycles, blaming new federal campaign finance laws that dried up unregulated contributions.
But he agreed that Sullivan's proven fund-raising skills will be an asset to the party in the future.
Sullivan, who has been mentioned as a potential party chairman at various times over the past decade, has raised tens of millions of dollars for educational and other causes.
