Death of former attorney general reminds of Idaho’s better political past | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tony Park served as Idaho attorney general 1971-1975, creating key legal divisions.
- Park promoted bipartisan respect, forming friendships with political rivals post-election.
- His career reflected a time when Idaho voters prioritized candidates over party lines.
It’s hard to imagine a time when Idaho elected Democrats to statewide office. Even harder to imagine is a time when both Republicans and Democrats won statewide offices at the same time.
Times were different in 1974, when Idaho voters overwhelmingly reelected Democrats Cecil Andrus for governor with 71% of the vote and Frank Church for U.S. Senate, but sent conservative Republicans Steve Symms and George Hansen to the U.S. House.
In that same election, Idaho voters overwhelmingly approved the state’s Sunshine Initiative, requiring greater campaign finance disclosures, a measure supported by then-Idaho Attorney General Tony Park, a Democrat, and criticized by his Republican challenger, Wayne Kidwell.
And yet voters chose Kidwell over Park by fewer than 6,000 votes.
It is interesting to note, as Park’s children point out, that Park and Kidwell became friends later in life, even after Kidwell defeated Park in 1974.
Park died on Friday, May 23, at his home in Boise. He was 90 years old.
Park was attorney general from 1971 to 1975. During his tenure, he established the Consumer Protection division, which still exists, and the Environmental Protection Division, according to his children.
“He was the first AG that got involved in environmental issues,” said former GOP Attorney General Jim Jones, who later became Park’s friend. “He got the ball rolling for all the subsequent AGs. Tony really laid some good groundwork for bringing the office into the 21st century.”
Park ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 1972 on a platform of getting out of the Vietnam War, maintaining the Hells River Canyon portion of the Snake River as a free-flowing river, increasing tax credits for farm equipment, and reforming taxes, with positions that sound just as relevant today as they did 50 years ago — when the parties often worked together.
“It is not fair when the average wage earner or small businessman has to pay one dollar out of five in taxes, while millionaires and huge corporations pay only one out of a hundred,” according to a campaign ad from the time.
He lost in the Democratic primary for the seat later won by Jim McClure, a Republican who served in the Senate for the next 18 years.
During the 1974 attorney general campaign, one of Kidwell’s knocks against Park was what Kidwell dubbed “Park’s Narcs,” an anti-drug division in the AG’s office that Kidwell said was “out of control,” according to previous reporting by The Associated Press on the race.
Imagine that: a Republican candidate running against a Democrat on the grounds that the Democrat was out of control in pursuit of drug crimes.
“I think even into the ‘80s, you know, during my term in office, the Republicans and Democrats were fairly evenly divided, and I think that was really good to keep politics more centered than they are nowadays,” Jones said. “Issues that divided people were issues of substance, like water and education. People got along a lot better, and there were a lot more coalitions across the aisle than there are nowadays.”
Over the past few years, Park, Kidwell, Jones and former Idaho District Judge Duff McKee began having weekly lunches, at which they discussed political events of the day.
“It was interesting to have those two who had fought it out for the AG’s office in ’74, and you know, Tony being a Democrat, and Wayne and myself and Duff being former Republicans, and it was amazing how we saw almost every issue through the same lens,” Jones said.
After losing reelection in 1974, Park returned to private practice and was a successful attorney in Boise for over 50 years.
He served on the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty during the Carter administration. He was president of the ACLU of Idaho and president of the Frank and Bethine Church Institute at Boise State University, and remained active in Democratic politics, including a stint as chair of the Democratic Party.
Park wrote a memoir of his political life, “An Idaho Democrat,” published by Ridenbaugh Press in 2021.
“It tells kind of the Tony Park story,” Jones said. “A lot of people would enjoy that, because it has a lot of political information that probably people weren’t aware of.”
Park contributed to guest opinion pieces for the Idaho Statesman from time to time, notably teaming up with other former Idaho attorneys general, including Democrat Larry Echo Hawk and Republicans David Leroy, Jim Jones, Al Lance and Kidwell.
They opined on such topics as the unconstitutionality of a transgender athlete ban in Idaho and the proper role of the attorney general.
Park himself contributed a guest opinion on the closed Republican primary (still not a settled problem).
His death is perhaps a reminder of Idaho’s bipartisan past, when Idahoans voted for Democrats and Republicans alike. They voted for the candidate and their stance on the issues — and not the party.
A stark difference from today, when most Idahoans just go for the letter “R” next to the name, no matter what.
Our debates today seem to be less about substantive issues and more about fringe culture war issues. Republicans and Democrats vilify each other and barely speak, let alone become friends and debate their differences over lunch.
“Tony Park helped us all see our city, state, and country in the best possible light,” former Boise Mayor David Bieter, who was a friend of Park’s, said in a statement released by Park’s family. “He dedicated his life to his family, his community, the law and politics with integrity, intellect, and graciousness. The chasm between the way Tony carried himself and that of today’s lawyers and politicians unfortunately grows larger every day. He will be sorely missed.”
In an era of partisan polarization, vitriol and division, let us all strive to be a little more like Tony Park.
