Walt Minnick

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Walt Minnick was a first-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 1st Congressional District of Idaho (U.S. state). In 2010, he was defeated by Republican Raul Labrador.[1]

He is a fiscally conservative member of the Blue Dog Democrat, who voted against both the November 2009 and March 2010 final health care bills.

Minnick is the only Democrat to have received an endorsement from the Tea Party movement, which his spokesman, John Foster, said he had not expected: "Being on a list with [lightning rod conservatives] Joe Wilson and Michele Bachmann is not something we are embracing. But we do appreciate that they recognize Walt's firm stance on fiscal accountability."[2]

Subsequently, he declined the endorsement because the endorsing group, Tea Party Express, had not adequately, in his opinion, disavowed the racist remarks of their expelled spokesman, Mark Williams.

The reprehensible blog post by your spokesman was clearly in poor taste. Whatever his reasons for writing it, his words reflect on all of those associated with the Tea Party movement. The proper response to his perceived slight on the issue of race was not to use inflammatory sarcasm. Rather, I would have expected your organization to instead highlight the Tea Party I know, the one with good, decent folks who care very much about the serious financial issues facing our nation and who themselves would find Mr. Williams' blog post distasteful.

Instead, the Tea Party Express has apparently decided to stand by Mr. Williams and support him in his own contention that he did nothing wrong. I cannot agree with that course of action. Since the Tea Party Express refuses to reject and rebuke Mr. Williams, I have no choice but to decline your endorsement.[3]

Committee assignments

Congressional caucuses

Voting ratings

Organization Rating Date
AFL-CIO
American Civil Liberties Union
American Conservative Union
Americans for Democratic Action
Cato Institute
Christian Coalition
Human Rights Campaign
League of Conservation Voters
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NARAL
National Rifle Association
National Right to Life Committee
National Taxpayers Union
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sources: Links to the voting ratings guides of the above organizations together with brief descriptive information on the organizations themselves, may be found at: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Interest_group/Catalogs

2008 Election

Candidate Party Vote total Percentage
Walt Minnick Democrat 175,898 50.61%
Bill Sali Republican 171,687 49.39%

Source: Federal Election Results - final official tally

2010 Elections

Sarah Palin endorsed Vaughn Ward as a candidate against him.[4]

Reference