As I've always suspected

It's been obvious for years, but now we have some somewhat objective evidence of it.  I thought I noticed it long ago, because it just seems obvious. It became an almost unavoidable conclusion, a sad, disheartening, depressing conclusion, when Donna Jones beat Jackie Groves Twilegar for State Controller in 2006.

The State Controller's duties are

The state controller is the chief fiscal officer of the state of Idaho, responsible for:

• Maintaining all accounting and financial records
• Paying all the state’s bills and employees
• Preparing the state’s annual financial report
• Operating the state’s Computer Service Center

In that race, the women had vastly different qualifications.  Jones was a HSG, and Twilegar had an MBA.  Plus

Jones is a former state legislator, a businesswoman, and current director of the Idaho Real Estate Commission. Twilegar is a financial manager who’s worked in corporate finance, banking, real estate and investments.

In other words, Twilegar was an accomplished professional woman from a financial background, and Jones was a political hack whose chief qualification was serving as an Idaho legislator.  So, why did Jones win that election?

Which brings me to this.  A recent survey shows Crapo, Simpson and Labrador all with comfortable leads going into this year's election.  But the nonpartisan Idaho Supreme Court election between Robin Brody and Curt McKenzie (a far-right Republican legislator) is close with 61% (!) not knowing who they will vote for.  What explains this?

Well, according to the Idaho Politics Weekly, it's this:

And without the benefit of having an “R” or a “D” next to their names, Idahoans don’t have much guidance on who to vote for here.

Yup.