Keith Allred to Form Committee for Idaho Governor’s Race as Democrat

By Jill Kuraitis, 12-09-09

Keith Allred of Eagle is expected to appoint a political treasurer and file the required C-1 form with the Secretary of State which will mark him as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2010, NewWest.Net has learned.

Allred, a public policy negotiator and leadership expert who has won respect and praise from both parties, can’t officially file for office until March 8, but a preliminary fundraising committee is the usual signal that a candidate will run.

Until now, Allred hasn’t claimed membership in any political party and has based his work with Idaho lawmakers on his declared nonpartisan status.

Fifth-generation native Idahoan Allred, executive director of The Common Interest in Boise - a nonprofit, nonpartisan good-government organization - is a respected Statehouse figure who has worked at brokering compromises between political parties and competing interests in the state legislature. His private business, Allred Solutions, is “a training, consulting, and mediation practice which helps public and private sector clients achieve solutions to difficult problems and controversies.”

Allred’s B.A. from Stanford is in American History and he holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and social psychology from UCLA. For seven years, Allred taught and researched leadership and negotiation at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was also a faculty member at Harvard Law School’s negotiation academic program. Before moving to Harvard, he was a professor of social and organizational psychology at Columbia University.

Allred still teaches leadership and management topics in executive programs at Harvard and Oxford and in the new Executive MBA program at Boise State University.

The high regard in which Allred is held by state government and elected officials has been documented over the years in news stories and comments solicited by the Common Interest, including this from Republican Gov. Butch Otter:  “The Common Interest already has proven itself to be a valuable resource on issues of public policy. There is an important place in any public policy discussion for a well-researched, facts-based voice of reason. We may not always agree, but the essence of sound public policy is open discussion and constructive disagreement that leads to better ways of empowering individuals and communities to succeed.”

When he was state legislature Majority Caucus Chair, Republican Lt. Gov. Brad Little said, “Legislators continually require three things. Creative new ideas, a sense of what our constituents either desire or detest, and good information; The Common Interest has been a good source of all three.”

Republican state senator Bart Davis, Majority Leader, said, “I have found that various lobbying groups take a narrow focus to solving Idaho’s complex problems. Often their solution is the solution from a singular point of view. The “Common Interest,” however, focuses on the issue, studies the various points of view, then reflects back to the legislature a reasoned opinion of Idahoans. I have found this approach to be more helpful to the legislative process.”

Allred is a skier and backpacker who grew up working summers on the family cattle ranch and competes in cutting horse competitions, including two trips to national championships. He and his wife Christine have three young children.