BOISE — The live, televised GOP primary debate in the 2nd Congressional District race has been canceled, as longtime GOP Congressman Mike Simpson declined to participate.

Simpson faces second-time challenger Bryan Smith of Idaho Falls, who also challenged him in the 2014 primary, along with several lesser-known GOP challengers, though Smith has been by far the most active in campaigning.

Simpson’s campaign said in a statement that he’s had joint appearances with Smith already, and said, “Republican voters don’t need to see anything more from Bryan Smith.”

Both Simpson and Smith spoke at two Idaho GOP Lincoln Day dinners in Caribou and Twin Falls counties; both attended a third, in Bingham County, though only Simpson spoke.

Smith told the Idaho Press, “Not only was I perfectly willing, I was looking forward to having a debate that was unfiltered by ads or handlers. I want and wanted the people of Idaho to get to see Congressman Simpson and me discussing important issues for them directly, without any interference from campaigns or any other interference. And I’m really disappointed for the people of the 2nd Congressional District that he won’t do that.”

Melissa Davlin, host of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television and the scheduled moderator for the debate, said, “Despite reaching out multiple times, we didn’t hear from Congressman Simpson. Our rules state we cannot host debates with just one candidate, so unfortunately, we had to cancel the CD2 primary debate.”

The debate was set to be part of the “Idaho Debates,” a longstanding series of political debates held in every election cycle for the past three decades, co-sponsored by the Idaho Press Club, the League of Women Voters of Idaho, Idaho Public Television, and Idaho’s state universities.

The Idaho Debates are broadcast statewide on Idaho Public Television, which reaches every part of the state; Simpson and Smith faced off in the Idaho Debates on May 10, 2014 when Smith mounted his previous challenge to Simpson. The debates include candidates who meet viewpoint-neutral criteria to show they’re running active campaigns, and who agree to participate.

Boise State University political scientist Jaclyn Kettler said only “a fairly small portion of primary voters” attend county GOP Lincoln Day dinners, whereas statewide debates are broadcast to a broad audience. “It is potentially a concern in terms of limiting the opportunity of voters to learn about the candidates,” she said. “And often those are the types of places where incumbents have to defend their record or explain their records,” serving as an “accountability” mechanism for voters.

“This kind of illustrates the difficult nature of being a challenger to an incumbent,” she said, “where the incumbent does have some advantages that can make it pretty tough, as a challenger, to really … be able to have the opportunities to distinguish yourself or make those comparisons.”

Simpson, who is seeking a 12th two-year term in Congress, is a dentist and former speaker of the Idaho House. In Congress, he serves on the House Appropriations Committee and two key appropriations subcommittees with jurisdiction over programs involving millions in federal funding for Idaho, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the U.S. Forest Service.

Smith, an attorney from Idaho Falls, is the vice-chairman of the board of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a member of the Bonneville County GOP central committee, and a conservative GOP activist. He’s been highly critical of Simpson as “too liberal,” particularly criticizing a concept Simpson has floated to breach four Northwest dams to save the region’s salmon runs, while putting millions into aid to farmers and affected communities.

Smith also faults Simpson for not being sufficiently pro-gun rights, though Simpson has always had a “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, and sometimes an A+; for voting in favor of the congressional investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol; and for ever agreeing with Democrats on anything in Congress. “Just two weeks ago, he voted for the $1.5 trillion budget deal,” Smith said.

That bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support, included $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. All three other members of Idaho’s delegation voted no.

Smith lists his top campaign issues as opposing dam-breaching; support for “restarting to build the Trump border wall;” and backing a federal law requiring photo ID to vote in all 50 states.

Simpson, on his campaign website, lists his top issues as agriculture, energy, veterans, health care, gun rights, immigration, and balancing the federal budget.

Simpson campaign advisor Sarah Nelson said in a statement, “Bryan Smith has spent a lifetime as a trial lawyer and debt collector who made millions by taking advantage of vulnerable Idahoans struggling to pay medical bills, and he is using that money in another attempt to buy an election. Republican voters don’t need to see anything more from Bryan Smith. They know Mike Simpson has been a fierce champion for Idaho and a consistent and dedicated conservative who is leading the fight against Joe Biden’s and Nancy Pelosi’s reckless agenda.”

Smith’s law firm, Smith Driscoll & Associates, does medical debt collection, though Smith said that’s largely handled by his employee, attorney and former state Rep. Bryan Zollinger. “I’m a trial lawyer and I do civil litigation work,” he said.

In 2020, top eastern Idaho GOP donor Frank VanderSloot, owner of Melaleuca, successfully spearheaded legislation aimed at curbing abuses in medical debt collection in Idaho, with many of his major criticisms aimed at Smith’s firm. The bill, the Idaho Patient Act, was signed into law in March of that year and took effect Jan. 1, 2021.

Smith is just as critical of Simpson as Simpson is of Smith. “I believed in 2014 that he was just too liberal, and Mike has accomplished the impossible, he’s gotten far worse since 2014,” Smith said.

He also criticized Simpson for posting a 2020 endorsement from former President Donald Trump on his campaign website. “He is making it look and appear as if Trump has endorsed him in the primary,” Smith said. “He has not.” Smith acknowledged that he hasn’t received Trump’s endorsement in the primary either.

According to the Federal Election Commission, as of Dec. 31, Simpson had raised $695,119 for his re-election campaign and had $516,894 in campaign cash on hand; Smith had raised $370,636 including $21,510 of his own funds, and had $289,193 on hand.

The Idaho Debates will kick off next Monday with the debate in the contested GOP primary race for lieutenant governor; followed by the GOP primary debates for Idaho attorney general, April 19; state superintendent of schools, April 25; and Idaho secretary of state, April 26.

The debate in the contested primary for governor has not yet been announced, though it had been tentatively scheduled for May 3, as incumbent GOP Gov. Brad Little still has not confirmed whether or not he will participate, despite a deadline that had been set for last Friday.

“We have not received confirmation from Gov. Little’s campaign that he will participate, though we have contacted them several times and offered to move the debate to a date that works if they have a conflict,” Davlin said in a statement. “We do have confirmation from the (Janice) McGeachin and (Ed) Humphreys campaigns. We hope Gov. Little will participate for the sake of the voters.”

Hayden Rogers, campaign spokesman for Little, said in a statement, “As was communicated to IPTV last week, the governor’s campaign will respond to the Idaho Debates invitation before the end of the week. Gov. Little is hard at work delivering results for Idaho families.”

No sitting Idaho governor seeking reelection has refused to participate in the Idaho Debates in the past three decades.