The appointment advantage: When power changes hands without voters

When an elected official leaves office mid-term, Idaho law defines a process for appointing someone to fill the vacancy until the next election. On its face, that sounds reasonable. Life happens: people move out of the area they represent, they might have a new job opportunity come up that can’t wait, and on rare occasions, someone becomes seriously ill or passes away unexpectedly. We need a process for filling those vacancies to have continuity in government. But over time, that practical mechanism has evolved into a political loophole, one that savvy insiders on both sides of the aisle have learned to exploit.

Here’s how it works: An incumbent nearing the end of a term steps down early, triggering an appointment process. A designated nominating committee or governing body then selects a like-minded ally to fill the seat. That appointee, now holding the title and all the visibility that comes with it, gets to run in the next election as an incumbent, complete with name recognition and the built-in legitimacy of having “served” in office.

That’s a powerful advantage, especially in communities where most voters have never met the candidates personally and rely on familiarity when they see names on a ballot. It’s not illegal. But it is profoundly undemocratic when continually used for political gain.

Each time it happens, voters lose a little more say in who represents them. And each time, the person stepping into the seat gains the powerful label of “incumbent” before ever facing the public’s judgment.

Supporters will say this process keeps the government functioning smoothly. And in genuine emergencies or unforeseen situations — a death, illness, or relocation — it does. But increasingly, it’s become a strategic tool. Some elected officials time their exits specifically to ensure their allies inherit their seat rather than risk an open election. The result? A revolving door of insiders trading titles, and an ever-shrinking circle of accountability to the public.

Giordani’s trajectory is just one example. She was elected to city council by a small fraction of Bellevue’s electorate, yet she now leads the entire city government. As a third place finisher in her only election, was she really the most qualified to assume the role of mayor when Chris Johnson decided to take another full time job in the city less than a year before his term was up? Voters never had a chance to answer that question.

Giordani isn’t the only one to benefit from Bellevue’s game of political musical chairs. In just five years, the city has cycled through four mayors, each meant to serve a two-year term. Before Giordani, Chris Johnson was appointed in August 2023 after Mayor Kathryn Goldman stepped down just nine months into her elected term. Goldman herself had first been appointed to replace Ned Burns, who resigned to fill the District 26 legislative seat vacated by Muffy Davis. And Davis? She’d left the Legislature to become a Blaine County Commissioner after Jacob Greenberg resigned before completing his term.

Are you keeping up? Does this seem normal to you in a country where we cherish representative government?

Blaine County Clerk Stephen Graham and County Commissioner Lindsay Mollineaux are other current county officials who have risen to power through this same process recently. Graham’s predecessor, JoLynn Drage, retired early after 15 years of service – only a year before her term was up. Mollineaux is the only official who was appointed to her position because of the untimely death of her predecessor, Dick Fosbury. Everyone else listed above succeeded someone else from the Democratic Party because of an early retirement, and they are all still alive and living in Blaine County.

All of these moves were made legally, but it’s a very concerning trend and it continues because too few people are paying attention and asking questions. The only real check on this quiet transfer of power is an informed public. It’s time for voters to notice who’s being handed the keys before they’ve earned them.

Heather Lauer is Chair of the Blaine County Republican Central Committee.