James Elroy Risch ( RISH; born May 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Idaho since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2003 to 2006 and from 2007 to 2009, and as governor of Idaho from 2006 to 2007.
Prior to his career in politics, Risch was a prosecuting attorney and taught criminal law at Boise State University.


== Early life and education ==
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Risch is the son of Helen B. (née Levi) and Elroy A. Risch, a lineman for Wisconsin Bell. His father is of German descent and his mother is of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. Risch attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1961 to 1963 and then transferred to the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He obtained a B.S. degree in forestry in 1965, and continued his education at the university's College of Law. He served on the Law Review and the College of Law Advisory Committee before receiving a J.D. degree in 1968.Risch entered politics in 1970 in Boise at age 27, winning election as Ada County Prosecuting Attorney. While serving in this capacity, he taught undergraduate classes in criminal justice at Boise State College and served as the president of the state's prosecuting attorneys' association. Concurrent with his service in the Idaho Senate, Risch became a millionaire as one of Idaho's most successful trial lawyers.


== State politics ==


=== Idaho Senate ===
Risch was first elected to the Idaho Senate from Ada County in 1974. He entered the state senate leadership in 1976, serving as majority leader and later as president pro tempore.
In a dramatic upset, Risch was defeated for reelection in 1988 by Democratic political newcomer and Boise attorney Mike Burkett. As of mid-2006, it remains Idaho's most expensive legislative contest.
In the second political defeat of his career, Risch lost the 1994 primary election for a state Senate seat to Roger Madsen. Risch returned to the state senate in 1995, as an appointee of Governor Phil Batt, who had named Madsen as the state commerce department's director.


=== First term as lieutenant governor ===
In January 2001, Risch had his eye on the lieutenant governor's seat vacated by Butch Otter, who resigned after being elected to Congress, but Governor Dirk Kempthorne appointed state Senator Jack Riggs of Coeur d'Alene to the post instead. The next year, Risch defeated Riggs in the Republican primary and won the general election, spending $360,000 of his own money on the campaign.


=== Governor ===
On May 26, 2006, Risch became governor of Idaho when Kempthorne resigned to become U.S. secretary of the interior. Risch appointed Mark Ricks to serve as his lieutenant governor. Risch served out the remaining seven months of Kempthorne's term, which ended in January 2007.
In August 2006, Risch called a special session of the Idaho Legislature to consider his proposed property tax reform bill, the Property Tax Relief Act of 2006.


=== Second term as lieutenant governor ===
Risch was expected to enter the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary to succeed Kempthorne, who was completing his second term at this time of his federal appointment. But Otter had already announced his candidacy for the position in December 2004 and gained a significant head start in campaigning and fundraising. In November 2005, Risch announced his intention to seek election again as lieutenant governor.
Risch was unopposed for the 2006 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor and defeated former Democratic U.S. representative Larry LaRocco in the general election. Risch's term as governor ended in January 2007 and he returned to the role of lieutenant governor. He resigned as lieutenant governor to take his seat in the Senate on January 3, 2009. Otter named state Senator Brad Little of Emmett as Risch's successor.


== U.S. Senate ==


=== Elections ===
2008
On August 31, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Governor Otter might appoint Risch to the United States Senate to succeed the embattled Larry Craig. On September 1, the Idaho Statesman reported that Otter's spokesman denied Risch had been selected and that Otter had "made no decision and he is not leaning toward anybody." On October 9, Risch announced that he would run for the Senate seat. In May 2008, Risch was nominated as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. In the general election he defeated former Democratic Congressman Larry LaRocco with 58% of the vote.
2014
Risch won the Republican primary with 79.9% of the vote and defeated attorney Nels Mitchell in the general election with 65.3% of the vote.
2020
Risch was unopposed in the 2020 Republican primary. He defeated Democratic nominee Paulette Jordan in the general election with 62% of the vote.


=== Tenure ===


==== 2000s ====
Risch was one of four freshmen Republican senators in the 111th Congress of 2009, with Mike Johanns of Nebraska, George LeMieux of Florida and Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho called Risch "results-oriented".


==== 2010s ====
In 2017, Risch was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.
On August 11, 2017, in an interview on PBS Newshour, Risch endorsed Trump's threatening North Korea with military destruction in the event that country launched missiles at Guam.On March 22, 2018, the day before a potential federal government shutdown, Risch threatened to block a government spending bill because it included changing the name of the White Clouds Wilderness protected area to honor a deceased political rival, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus. Risch ultimately acquiesced.
In January 2019, Risch joined Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in introducing legislation that would impose sanctions on the government of President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and bolster American cooperation with Israel and Jordan.


==== 2020s ====
On January 21, 2020, during the first day of opening arguments in Trump's Senate impeachment trial, Risch was the first senator to fall asleep. Courtroom sketch artist Art Lien memorialized his nap.In 2020, while Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Risch decided not to press Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify at the annual budget hearing. Pompeo had just successfully sought to have State Department inspector general Steve Linick fired; at the time, Linick had been conducting a watchdog investigation into the Trump administration's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval. For his tenure as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the 116th Congress, the nonpartisan Lugar Center's Congressional Oversight Hearing Index gave Risch an "F" grade.Risch was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol. He called the attack "unpatriotic and un-American in the extreme" and suggested it was sparred by "deep distrust in the integrity and veracity of our elections."In 2021, Risch blocked the confirmation of Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt to the position of special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.


==== Committee assignments ====
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Energy Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Foreign Relations (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs (Ex Officio Member)
Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs (Ex Officio)
Subcommittee on African Affairs (Ex Officio)
Subcommittee on European Affairs (Ex Officio)
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Ethics
Select Committee on Intelligence


==== Caucuses ====
Senate Republican Conference


== Foreign policy positions ==


=== Saudi Arabia ===
In 2019, Risch sought to quell dissent among Republican senators over what they perceived as the Trump administration's weak response to the killing of Saudi journalist and U.S. permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi, and its refusal to send Congress a report on the administration's determination of who killed Khashoggi. He told his fellow Republican senators and Politico that the Trump administration was in compliance with the Magnitsky Act, but the administration had said that it refused to comply with the Act.


=== Israel Anti-Boycott Act ===
In March 2018, Risch co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.


=== Turkey sanctions ===
Risch is a co-sponsor of S.1241, the Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act of 2019, which is intended to punish Turkey and protect allies like the Kurds who have suffered from recent Turkish military operations in Syria, including by resettling them in the United States. The measure has broad support in Congress, which is concerned about the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system Turkey is testing.


== Political positions ==
Risch is considered politically conservative. The American Conservative Union's Center for Legislative Accountability gives him a lifetime conservative score of 91.54. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him an ideology score of zero in 2019.


=== Abortion ===
Risch is anti-abortion. In 2013, he co-sponsored the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would have made it illegal for a minor to cross state lines for an abortion.


=== Guns ===
The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Risch and gave him an A+ grade for his voting record on gun issues.In 2013, along with 12 other Republican Senators, Risch threatened to filibuster any bills Democrats introduced that Republicans perceived as a threat to gun rights, including expanded background checks. In an interview with National Public Radio, he said that Americans' right to keep and bear arms includes "a right to purchase one [a gun], to sell one, to trade in one, and you really have to have a robust market if indeed you're going to have a constitutional right." He also said that additional background checks would mean that gun dealers would "have to deal with the federal bureaucracy, which is very, very difficult to deal with."In response to the Orlando nightclub shooting, Risch and Crapo said the shooting was not a reason to call for gun control legislation.In 2016, Risch voted against the Feinstein Amendment, which would have blocked the sale of guns to people on the terrorist watch list, and Democrat Chris Murphy's proposal to expand background checks for sales at gun shows and online. Risch voted for both Republican-backed bills, John Cornyn's proposal to create a 72-hour delay for anyone on the terrorist watchlist buying a gun and Charles Grassley and Ted Cruz's proposal to alert authorities if a someone on the list tries to buy a firearm.


=== Criminal justice ===
Risch opposed the FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. The bill passed 87–12 on December 18, 2018.


=== Health care ===
Risch supports repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. He voted against the ACA in 2010.On May 21, 2020, Risch introduced S. 3829, the Global Health Security and Diplomacy Act, but it did not receive a vote. In opening the confirmation hearings for Secretary Antony Blinken, Risch emphasized it as a legislative and foreign policy priority, given the "catastrophic failure at every level" of global health security infrastructure. The bill's supporters claim it would "improve coordination among the relevant Federal departments and agencies implementing United States foreign assistance for global health security, and more effectively enable partner countries to strengthen and sustain resilient health systems and supply chains with the resources, capacity, and personnel required to prevent, detect, mitigate, and respond to infectious disease threats before they become pandemics, and for other purposes."


=== 2021 storming of the United States Capitol ===
On May 28, 2021, Risch abstained from voting on the creation of an independent commission to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack.


== Electoral history ==


=== Idaho State Senate ===


=== Idaho Lieutenant Governor ===


=== U.S. Senator ===


== References ==


== External links ==
Senator Jim Risch official U.S. Senate website
Jim Risch for Senate
Jim Risch at Curlie
Appearances on C-SPAN

Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Profile at Vote Smart
Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
Legislation sponsored at the Library of CongressElectionsNational Business Aviation Association: Election 2014, Sen. Jim Risch
Risch revels in upcoming term as king The Idaho Statesman March 18, 2006
Risch becomes Idaho's 31st governor The Idaho Statesman May 26, 2006