Butch Otter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Butch Otter
Otter in 2017
32nd Governor of Idaho
In office January 1, 2007 – January 7, 2019
Lieutenant	Jim Risch Brad Little
Preceded by	Jim Risch
Succeeded by	Brad Little
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Idaho's 1st district
In office January 3, 2001 – January 1, 2007
Preceded by	Helen Chenoweth-Hage
Succeeded by	Bill Sali
37th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
In office January 5, 1987 – January 3, 2001
Governor	Cecil Andrus Phil Batt Dirk Kempthorne
Preceded by	David Leroy
Succeeded by	Jack Riggs
Member of the Idaho House of Representatives
In office December 1, 1972 – December 1, 1976
Personal details
Born	Clement Leroy Otter (1942-05-03) May 3, 1942 (age 82) Caldwell, Idaho, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Gay Simplot ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1992)​ Lori Easley ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	4
Education	College of Idaho (BA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1968–1973
Unit	Idaho Army National Guard

Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (born May 3, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2006, and reelected in 2010, and 2014. Otter served as lieutenant governor from 1987 to 2001 and in U.S. Congress from the first district from 2001 to 2007.

Early life, education and business career (1942–1972)

Born in Caldwell, Idaho into a small Roman Catholic family of limited means, his parents were Regina Mary (née Buser) and Joseph Bernard Otter. His father was a journeyman electrician, and the family lived in many rural locations in the Midwest and West during his youth, attending fifteen different schools.

His nickname "Butch" was the result of a few schoolyard fights which resulted in minor bruises; Catholic nuns had initially nicknamed him "Clem" after a character in the Red Skelton Show. He graduated from St. Teresa's Academy (predecessor of Bishop Kelly High School) in Boise in 1962. Otter graduated from high school at age twenty – a childhood accident involving gasoline severely burned his younger brother and forced Otter to take a year off. He worked throughout high school as a janitor, theater usher, and lawn boy.

Otter briefly attended St. Martin's College in Lacey, Washington, returned to Idaho and attended Boise Junior College, then earned his B.A. in political science from the College of Idaho in 1967. He was the only member of his family to graduate from college, and made the dean's list in his last term. He served in the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Armored Cavalry from 1968 to 1973.

Otter's business experience includes thirty years with Simplot International, an agribusiness corporation founded by his then father-in-law, J.R. Simplot. He started at a low-level position and eventually rose to the company's presidency.

Early political career (1972–1986)

Idaho legislature

His first bid for elective office was in 1972; he won a seat in the state legislature from Canyon County, and was re-elected to the House in 1974 serving until 1976.

1978 gubernatorial election

In January 1977, incumbent Democratic Governor Cecil Andrus was appointed U.S. Secretary of Interior under President Jimmy Carter. Lieutenant governor John Evans, a Democrat, succeeded Andrus and Otter announced in June his intention to run for governor in 1978. In the six-man Republican primary in August, Otter ranked a close third with 26.0% of the vote. Allan Larsen, the House Speaker from Blackfoot, won the nomination with 28.7% of the vote, followed by Vern Ravenscroft of Tuttle, with 27.6%.

The nominees of both parties were Mormon, marking the first time in state history one would be elected governor. Incumbent Evans was unopposed in the Democratic primary and won the general election in November with nearly sixty percent of the vote; it was the third of six consecutive victories by Democrats.

State politics

After losing the gubernatorial primary, he was on the Idaho Republican Party Central Committee and was Chairman of the Canyon County Republican Party.

Reagan administration

After Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980, he appointed Otter to the administration's Task Force on International Private Enterprise, the World Bank's Agricultural Advisory Committee, and the Center for International Private Enterprise.

Lieutenant governor (1987–2001)

In 1986, Otter returned to Idaho politics and was elected lieutenant governor, and reelected in 1990, 1994, and 1998. He served under three different governors, Democrat Cecil Andrus, and Republicans Phil Batt and Dirk Kempthorne. In 1991, when the Idaho Senate was evenly divided between 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats, Otter's tie-breaking votes kept the body under GOP control. Midway through his fourth term in 2001 (14 years), Otter resigned to take his congressional seat in Washington, D.C.; he is the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Idaho history.

U.S. House of Representatives (2001–2007)

In Congress, Otter was largely conservative with a slight libertarian streak, as reflected in his opposition to the Patriot Act. He was one of three Republicans (along with Bob Ney of Ohio and Ron Paul of Texas) to vote against the Act in 2001.

He since stated that "much of the USA PATRIOT Act is needed to help protect us in a dangerous age of stateless zealots and mindless violence". Otter was also very critical of the Bush Administration's Terrorist Surveillance Program concerning communications to those outside the United States. He served as a deputy majority whip for most of his time in Congress.

LGBT rights

He supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between "one man and one woman."

Gun laws

He has been a strong advocate for Second Amendment rights and opposes federal restrictions on gun sales.

Economy

On economic issues, he has voted for a 2001 bankruptcy overhaul requiring partial debt repayment. He supports a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution and supports broad-based tax cuts including eliminating the estate and marriage taxes. He has supported expanding free-trade agreements with nations such as Singapore and Chile.

Health care

He has voted for medical malpractice and tort reform. He has voted to allow importation of prescription drugs and has supported small business associations to reduce health insurance costs via collaborative efforts.

Foreign policy

Otter voted to authorize the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Committee assignments

• U.S. House Committee on Resources
• U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• U.S. House Committee on Government Reform
• U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Governor of Idaho (2007–2019)

Otter with then-lieutenant governor Brad Little in September 2014.

First term

Otter has recommended an increase in Idaho state educational funding by $1.36 billion as well as expanding needs-based scholarships for college-bound students. Otter supports expanding offshore oil drilling and supports tax incentives for development of alternative fuels. He has stated that the US should set a goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025.

On January 11, 2007, Otter announced his support for a "gray wolf kill," in which all but 100 of Idaho's recently recovered population would be eradicated, pending the forthcoming U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removal of the wolves' federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. Otter even remarked that he would be first in line to purchase a tag to kill one of the animals. This position drew criticism from many Western environmental and animal advocate groups, including Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals who called for a boycott of potatoes from Idaho.

In the summer of 2007, actress Dawn Wells, the original Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island Wells Governor Butch Otter with the Idaho Visionary Award for the work he had done supporting Idaho filmmakers at the SpudFest Family Film and Music Festival that she founded in Driggs, Idaho.

Second term

He was sworn into his second term on January 7, 2011. In the first State of the State in his second term, he proposed the elimination of teacher tenure, becoming one of the most aggressive governors in the country when it comes to education reform. The Stateline explained that the "Idaho plan is perhaps the most far-reaching effort to use teachers' rights and performance as part of a bid to revamp a state's entire educational process." Critics say that roughly 770 teaching positions would be eliminated and teacher contracts would have to be renegotiated every year, in which bargaining would cover only pay and benefits. In March 2011, Otter signed two bills into law, one limits the ability of teachers to collectively bargain and eliminates tenure for new teachers. The other allows school districts to pay teachers based on their performance. The "Luna laws" (named after the state's superintendent of education) were later overturned in three state referendums in 2012.

In April 2011, Otter issued an executive order prohibiting Idaho state agencies from implementing the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Third term

Senate Bill 1146a, which would have legalized CBD oil for persons with severe epilepsy, passed the Idaho Legislature following "lengthy and emotional" hearings, but was vetoed by Otter in April 2015.

Personal life

Butch and Lori Otter opening the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games

In 1964, Otter married Gay Simplot (b. 1945), the sister of Scott Simplot and only daughter of J. R. Simplot. After 28 years of marriage, the couple amicably divorced in 1992. The marriage was later annulled by the Catholic Church.

In 2006, Otter married his longtime girlfriend Lori Easley (born 1967), a former Miss Idaho USA, in Meridian on August 18.

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Butch Otter para niños In Spanish: Butch Otter para niños