John Evans (Idaho governor)

John Victor Evans Sr. (January 18, 1925 – July 8, 2014) was an American politician from Idaho. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the state's 27th governor and was in office for nearly ten years, from 1977 to 1987.[1][2]

John Evans
27th Governor of Idaho
In office January 23, 1977 – January 4, 1987
Lieutenant	William Murphy Phil Batt David Leroy
Preceded by	Cecil Andrus
Succeeded by	Cecil Andrus
33rd Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
In office January 6, 1975 – January 23, 1977
Governor	Cecil Andrus
Preceded by	Jack Murphy
Succeeded by	William Murphy
Member of the Idaho Senate
In office 1953–1959 1969-1975
Personal details
Born	John Victor Evans January 18, 1925 Malad City, Idaho, U.S.
Died	July 8, 2014 (aged 89) Boise, Idaho, U.S.
Resting place	Malad City Cemetery Malad City, Idaho, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Lola Daniels ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	5
Alma mater	Stanford University (BA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	Infantry
Battles/wars	World War II

Biography

Born in Malad, Idaho,[3] Evans was an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II. Following the war, he attended Stanford University and graduated in 1951.[4] He and his wife, Lola Daniels Evans (1927–2015), were married for over 69 years and had five children: three sons and two daughters.[2][5]

Career

Evans returned to Malad after college to help run the family wheat and cattle ranch.[5] He was elected to the state senate at age 27 in 1952 and re-elected in 1954 and 1956, serving as majority leader in his final term. In 1960, Evans became mayor of Malad City and served in that capacity until 1966. He returned to the state senate in 1969 and served as minority leader from 1969 to 1975.[2]

Evans was elected the 33rd lieutenant governor of Idaho in 1974,[1] and became governor in January 1977 when Cecil Andrus accepted an appointment to become the Secretary of the Interior in the new Carter administration.

Evans finished Andrus' term and was elected governor in his own right in 1978, defeating Republican house speaker Allan Larsen of Blackfoot. Evans is the first (and only) Mormon[3] to win election as governor in Idaho and besides Arnold Williams is the only Mormon to serve as governor of Idaho.[6] He was re-elected in 1982, defeating Republican lieutenant governor Phil Batt of Wilder. This election was so close that at least one Idaho television network incorrectly declared Batt the winner on election night.[7][8]

While in office as governor in 1981, Evans' 29-year-old son John was the target of a foiled kidnapping attempt in Burley.[9][10]

Elections

Idaho Gubernatorial Elections: Results 1978–1982

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Votes	Pct
1978		John Evans (inc.)	165,540	58.7%		Allan Larsen	114,149	39.6%		Others	4,877	1.7%
1982		John Evans (inc.)	187,640	52.9%		Phil Batt	166,911	47.1%

After nearly a decade as a governor, Evans ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986,[11] but was defeated by Republican incumbent Steve Symms of Caldwell.[1] He was succeeded as governor by Andrus, who served two more terms, giving the Democrats six consecutive elections for governor in the state, holding the office from 1971 to 1995.

U.S. Senate elections in Idaho (Class III): Results 1986

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
1986		John Evans	185,066	48.4%		Steve Symms (inc.)	196,958	51.6%

Source:[12]

Later life and death

Evans became president of the family-owned D. L. Evans Bank in Burley in January 1987,[13][14] which was founded in 1904 in Albion by his grandfather, David Lloyd Evans, Sr. (1854–1929).[15] Evans died at age 89 in 2014 at his Boise home on July 8.[2][16] Less than year later, his widow Lola died at home in Boise on May 19, 2015, at the age of 88.[17] They are interred at the Malad City Cemetery in Malad City.

References

1. NND.com-Governor John V. Evans
2. "John V. Evans (1925 - 2014)". Idaho Statesman. Boise. obituary. July 10, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
3. National Governors Association-John V. Evans Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Idaho Governor John Victor Evans". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
5. Hall, Bill (January 26, 1977). "John Evans: Hints of things to come". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1.
6. "Mormons win Idaho governor primary". Bend Bulletin. Associated Press. August 9, 1978. p. 20.
7. Kennedy, John (November 4, 1982). "Gov. Evans rejoices, Batt talks about quitting politics". Associated Press. p. 1C.
8. "Phil Batt has seen close races before". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. December 18, 2000. p. 7A.
9. "3 try to kidnap Idaho governor's son". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. May 16, 1981. p. 9C.
10. "Karen Evans is a heroine to Idaho governor's family". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. May 16, 1981. p. 5B.
11. Kenyon, Quane (October 28, 1986). "No political truce in Idaho". Spokane Chronicle. Associated Press. p. A4.
12. "Office of the Clerk: Election statistics". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
13. "Evans to take over family bank branch". (Moscow) Idahonian. Associated Press. December 2, 1986. p. 1.
14. "Our History". DL Evans Bank. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
15. Kenyon, Quane (October 11, 1987). "John Evans settling in as banker". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. p. B1.
16. "Former Idaho Gov. John V. Evans has died at 89". Idaho State Journal. Pocatello. July 8, 2014.
17. "Wife of late Gov. Evans passes away in Boise". Idaho State Journal. 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2015-05-23.

External links

• National Governors Association
• D.L. Evans Bank
• John Evans at Find a Grave