Helen Chenoweth-Hage Totally Explained

Helen Chenoweth-Hage (January 27 1938 – October 2 2006) was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Idaho. She was the second woman and first Republican women to be elected to Congress from Idaho.

Early life and career

She was born as Helen Margaret Palmer on January 27, 1938 in Topeka, Kansas, but spent most of her growing up years on her father’s dairy farm in Grants Pass, Oregon. A musician, horse enthusiast and athlete, Helen attended Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington where she met her first husband Nick Chenoweth. The two were married in 1958.
Helen and Nick Chenoweth had two children, Michael Chenoweth and Margaret (Meg) Chenoweth, both born in Orofino, Idaho where Helen developed and managed the Northside Medical Clinic. There she developed a physician recruitment practice where she recruited doctors for under-served rural communities.
Chenoweth was divorced in 1975 and moved to Boise to become the Executive Director of the Idaho Republican Party. Later she went on to serve as (then) Congressman Steve Symms' District Director in 1977 through his election in 1978 after which she started her own business, Consulting Associates, and became a noteworthy lobbyist in the Idaho capital city.

Election and Congressional career

In 1994, Chenoweth-Hage won the Republican nomination for Idaho's 1st Congressional District. She pledged to serve no more than three terms in the United States House of Representatives if elected. She defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Larry LaRocco by almost 11 points in the Republican wave that saw that party take control of the House for the first time in 40 years. While Chenoweth's victory was one of many instances of historically Republican districts reverting to form after being held by Democrats, it was still surprising considering that LaRocco had won re-election in 1992 by almost 21 points.
   With her victory in 1994, Helen Chenoweth became the second woman to represent Idaho in the United States Congress and one of few Congressmen or Congresswomen to be elected by her peers to a Chairmanship (House Subcommittee on Forest and Forest Health) after only one term.
   As one of the "true believers" in the Republican freshman class of 1995, Chenoweth-Hage was considered one of the most conservative members of the House, staunchly defending private property rights, veterans' rights and school prayer, although she didn't practice social conservatism in her private life. Much was made of her "insistence" on the title "Congressman Chenoweth-Hage," (as opposed to the more common "Congresswoman"). In fact she simply found the term "Congresswoman" unwieldy herself but was reported not to have objected when others used it in reference to her.
   During her tenure, she was referred to by her most outspoken critics as a "poster-child for the militias." The Los Angeles Times editorialized that during the campaign she gained national attention by "holding 'endangered salmon bakes' during fundraisers, serving canned salmon to ridicule the listing of Idaho Salmon as an endangered species." She was quoted as saying in response "the only endangered species is the White Christian landowning male." (External Link

) Chenoweth-Hage remained a controversial and beloved figure in Idaho politics throughout her career. While in Congress she articulated and defended a freedom philosophy that was simultaneously cherished and derided by supporters and opponents. Chenoweth-Hage was a critic of President Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal and was one of the first to call for his resignation over the affair, although she admitted that as a single woman she'd had an affair with a married man in the 1980s. She claimed that her case was different from the Clinton/Lewinsky case since she was a private citizen at the time and was honest with the public when confronted with the charge in 1998, although claims were made that she'd denied it in a 1995 interview.(External Link

) At the end of her Congressional career, Chenoweth-Hage continued to make headlines. In 2003 at the Boise Airport she was selected by Homeland Security for a hand search before they'd permit her to board a plane for her Nevada home. Chenoweth-Hage requested to see a copy of the regulation granting Homeland Security the authority to search her without cause. When the request was denied, she refused to submit to the search and elected to make the 300-mile trip by rental car. "Our borders are wide open and yet they’re shaking down a 66-year old white grandmother they greeted by name," she said of the incident. "It’s time the American people say no to this kind of invasion. It’s a question of personal privacy. There shouldn’t be that kind of search without reasonable cause."
Chenoweth-Hage faced reasonably well-funded challenges in 1996 and 1998. Chenoweth-Hage later said that she regretted limiting herself to three terms and called the whole concept of term limits bad policy. She nonetheless honored her pledge and didn't run for reelection in 2000. She was succeeded by future Idaho Governor Butch Otter, a fellow Republican.

Later life and death

Chenoweth married rancher and author Wayne Hage in Boise in 1999 and moved to his Nevada ranch, where the two continued to write and speak on private property rights issues. Hage died at the age of 68 on June 5 2006.
On October 2, 2006, Chenoweth-Hage was killed after being thrown from the backseat of a vehicle that overturned on an isolated central Nevada highway near Tonopah. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car. Her daughter-in-law (who was driving) and grandson suffered only minor injuries (External Link

).
Chenoweth-Hage was memorialized at a service held in Meridian, Idaho on October 9, 2006.

Electoral history

1998 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 1st District
- Helen Chenoweth (R) (inc.), 55%
- Dan Williams (D), 45%
1996 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 1st District
- Helen Chenoweth (R) (inc.), 50%
- Dan Williams (D), 48%
1994 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 1st District
- Helen Chenoweth (R), 55%
- Larry LaRocco (D) (inc.), 45%

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