GOP Files Lawsuit Over Redistricting Ruckus

The Republican Party is suing the secretary of state over redistricting in the Idaho Supreme Court.  The party contends its chairman and the speaker of the House of Representatives have the power to fire their appointees and name new members to the panel. (Republican Chairman Norm Semanko and House Speaker Lawerence Denney want to remove redistricting commissioners Randy Hansen, a former Twin Falls legislator, and Dolores Crow, a former House member from Nampa. But the Idaho attorney general says Semanko and Denney don't have the power to remove them, even though they appointed Hansen and Crow to the panel. And Secretary of State Ben Ysursa hasn't declared a redistricting commission vacancy. The redistricting panel is due to reconvene Thursday to draw up maps after previous plan was thrown out by justices.