Idaho lawyers show clear preference in judicial race between Steven Boyce and Randy Neal

REXBURG — The results of a survey taken by members of the Idaho State Bar seem to paint a clear picture of who local attorneys and judges prefer to win the contested Madison County judge election.

On April 15, the Idaho State Bar asked all 7,240 of its members, consisting of Idaho attorneys and judges, to participate in a confidential survey, expressing their opinions about the qualifications and abilities of the candidates in the upcoming contested judicial elections on May 19.

One of the most anticipated races this year is between incumbent Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce and Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal, both running for the Seventh District Judge position in Madison County.

The survey asked participants to evaluate candidates from 1 (Does not meet expectations) to 4 (Exceeds expectations) across four areas: Integrity and Independence, Knowledge and Understanding of the Law, Judicial Temperament and Demeanor and Legal Ability and Experience.

A total of 873 members responded to the survey, but participants were asked only to rate a candidate if they had personal and/or professional experience with them. Participants could only take the survey once.

The results

The survey results between Boyce and Neal showed a large similarity in opinion among Idaho State Bar members, with a heavy preference for Boyce.

As seen above, Boyce scored significantly well, with the overwhelming majority of bar members finding that he ‘exceeds expectations’ for the judge position in all categories.

The weighted average of the questions gave Boyce a 3.66 out of 4.

For example, only 3 of 305 people indicated that Boyce “does not meet expectations” regarding his Judicial Temperament and Demeanor. 240 of 305 people indicated that they believe Boyce exceeds expectations regarding the same question.

In the same manner, only 3 of 307 people stated that Boyce “does not meet expectations” in terms of his Integrity and Independence. 232 of 307 people stated that Boyce exceeds expectations in that same category.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Boyce for a comment and has not yet heard back.

As for Neal, the results above show a strong lack of confidence in his judicial abilities among his fellow members of the Idaho State Bar.

The weighted average of the questions left Neal with a 1.66 out of 4.

Most notably, 156 out of 240 people indicated that Neal “does not meet expectations” regarding his Judicial Temperament and Demeanor. Only 15 of the 240 respondents indicated that they believe Neal exceeds expectations on the same question.

Similarly, 147 out of 238 people answered that Neal “does not meet expectations’ regarding his Integrity and Independence. 17 of the 240 respondents stated that Neal exceeds expectations in that category.

Neal tells EastIdahoNews.com that the results were somewhat anticipated, given the tension surrounding the race, but that he was marginally surprised by such a large discrepancy between his negative results and Boyce’s.

“The thing that’s most obvious is you look at those numbers, and you can see the pattern is all fours on one side, and all ones on the other,” says Neal. “That’s not an honest assessment.”

Neal says he believes the survey is a chance for attorneys, not voters, to decide who wins a race.

“It’s clear this was a chance for the attorneys to say who they want,” says Neal. “It really comes down to whether our judges are picked by lawyers or elected by the voters.”

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