A member of the Republican Party , he previously served as a United States Senator from Idaho from to and the 30th governor of Idaho from to Kempthorne was first elected to public office as Mayor of Boise in , where he served for seven years. He attended San Bernardino Valley College , then transferred north to the University of Idaho in Moscow , where he graduated in with a degree in political science , and served a term as student body president. Kempthorne is of Cornish ancestry.
Kempthorne's first major political victory came at age 34, when he was elected mayor of Boise in As mayor, Kempthorne became very popular and was unopposed for reelection in In , U.
Senator Steve Symms decided not to seek a third term and Kempthorne pursued the Republican nomination for the seat. In the general election, Kempthorne defeated Democratic U. Representative Richard H. In the Senate, Kempthorne sponsored and helped pass the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of , a bill meant to prohibit Congress from imposing unfunded federal mandates on states. This bill was signed into law by President Clinton on August 6, During his six years in the Senate, Kempthorne scored a "0" on the League of Conservation Voters' legislative scorecards every year except , when he scored 6 percent on the basis of one vote against funding a rocket booster for the space program that environmentalists judged harmful to the environment.
Source: [ 12 ]. Kempthorne was expected to run for reelection in , but instead decided to run for the open seat for governor. The incumbent, Phil Batt , shocked the state by announcing his retirement after only one term in office, citing his age 71 as the prime factor in his decision.
Kempthorne won the gubernatorial election in a landslide, receiving 68 percent of the vote while his Democratic opponent, Robert C. Huntley , received only 29 percent. He was reelected in with 56 percent of the vote; his Democratic opponent, Jerry Brady , polled 42 percent. Bush to replace Gale Norton as the 49th Secretary of the Interior. He was confirmed by the full Senate on May 26 and resigned as Idaho Governor to accept the position the same day.
