A political analyst wrote that Larry EchoHawk had three strikes against him going into the campaign for Idaho attorney general in 1990: He's Mormon. He's Indian. He's a Democrat.
EchoHawk, who graduated from Brigham Young University and the University of Utah Law School, won that race to become the first American Indian elected to a statewide office. He's now the heir apparent to Idaho's popular four-term Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus, who is retiring. Echo-Hawk received 74 percent of the vote in the May 24 Democratic gubernatorial primary.Political polls in Idaho show EchoHawk 12 to 14 points ahead of Republican nominee Phil Batt, a former lieutenant governor and state senator. He's on track to become the nation's first American Indian governor.
"I welcome the opportunity to be a role model," EchoHawk said in an interview with the Deseret News during a vacation in Utah County this past weekend.
EchoHawk has some Utahns stumping for him, including BYU football coach LaVell Edwards and former Deseret News Publisher Wendell Ashton. Actor/
environmental activist Robert Redford contributed to his campaign for attorney general. The two were to meet Tuesday.
Not unlike Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, in Utah's 3rd Congressional District, EchoHawk, 45, has been able to crack Republican strongholds in eastern Idaho. Well-known GOP business leaders are helping to finance his election bid, which could cost $1.5 million.
While EchoHawk has won over a good share of Republicans, his connection to a member of his own party could work against him. He expects his detractors to publicize footage of him jogging with President Clinton - something he did on two occasions - to win back GOP support. EchoHawk was reportedly on Clinton's short list for secretary of the interior and attorney general.
"I think that most people would say that would be an obstacle for me in the Idaho election," he said. Clinton edged Ross Perot as a distant second for president in that state in 1992.
Nevertheless, the soft-spoken EchoHawk shrugs his shoulders when asked if he intends to distance himself from the president as many Democrats seeking re-election are nationwide.
"I'm who I am. People know my personal values are very conservative and political views are moderate," he said. One Idaho news-paper described EchoHawk as "dignified, so obviously fair and eminently reasonable, the word `politician' seems scarcely to apply. People instinctively trust him and count his unassuming ways as a virtue."
EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee Tribe, was born in Cody, Wyo., one of six children of an oil worker. EchoHawk's family hopscotched the western United States before settling in Farmington, N.M. His father overcame alcoholism and the family joined the LDS Church when EchoHawk was 14.
He won a football scholarship to BYU in 1966 and was named to the academic all-conference team. He earned a law degree from the U. in 1973.
EchoHawk began his legal career with California Indian Legal Services. He practiced in Salt Lake City before being named chief counsel of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Fort Hall, Idaho. He was twice elected to the Idaho Legislature and was named Bannock County prosecutor in 1986.
As attorney general, EchoHawk has pushed a get-tough crime agenda in the Legislature. He also championed a constitutional amendment to strengthen crime victims' rights, an issue that will be on the November ballot.
Crime, water rights, endangered salmon, timber harvests and nuclear waste are among the main issues Idaho faces.
Despite what some perceive as strikes against him, EchoHawk has yet to lose an election. Besides Republicans, opposition this time around could come on several fronts.
EchoHawk has enjoyed support from American Indian groups in the past, but his opposition to casino gambling alienated him from many tribal leaders. There also is some anti-LDS sentiment in northern Idaho. And there's some white supremacist activity in the state.
Still, he perceives Idahoans as fair-minded and independent. "They judge based on upon character, experience and position on issues," he said.
Maybe EchoHawk will prove once again that three strikes doesn't always mean you're out.