House Speaker Lawerence Denney said Wednesday that he will campaign in earnest to win two more years as the House's top leader, despite a challenge from Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke.

Bedke, R-Oakley, gave money to more than 40 GOP House candidates, while Denney's contributions were more limited. But with the composition of the House set by Tuesday's election, Denney, R-Midvale, sounded undaunted by the upstart's challenge.

"The game is on," Denney told me. "We know the players."

UPDATE, 3 p.m., Pentagon says disclaimer required for retired service members

In response to an inquiry about Sen. Mitch Toryanski's using images of himself in uniform in campaign material, a Defense Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that the Department's directive applies to all service members, including retirees like Toryanski.

Here is the text of the reply from Eileen M. Lainez, a spokeswoman in the Defense Press Office,
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense:

Republican Fred Martin apologized to 18-year GOP Sen. John Andreason, whose seat Martin aims to win in Idaho's most expensive legislative race in West Boise's District 15.

In a mailer late last week, Martin's campaign attributed to Andreason a quote that earlier had been attributed to Lt. Gov. Brad Little.

Propositions 1, 2 and 3 were soundly defeated in voting by about 1,700 Idaho high school students last week, according to Secretary of State Ben Ysursa's office.

Results from the voluntary mock election were released Monday morning. Ysursa has conducted such mock elections in previous years.

Proposition 1 (unions) failed with 1,205 no votes and 467 yes votes, or 71 percent no.

Proposition 2 (merit pay) failed with 1,266 no votes and 420 yes votes, or 75 percent no.

Proponents of Superintendent Tom Luna's K-12 reforms appear to have the upper hand in the final days of the campaign, based on the latest campaign finance filings in the Secretary of State's office.

Proponents reported an additional $153,469 in spending, while opponents reported just $8,153. Those figures come from

Republican Fred Martin has judiciously avoided stating his position on Propositions 1, 2 and 3, the education reforms that were opposed by retiring GOP Sen. John Andreason.

At a forum on Monday at Centennial High School, Martin twice avoided the question, saying, "Is it perfect? No. I have reservations on each one of them. But again, they need to be looked at very closely."

I know, I know, my name's not Dana (Oland) and I'm not the Statesman's -- or anybody else's for that matter -- theater critic.

But every so often I feel obligated to suggest something readers shouldn't miss. For regulars who have a sense of my sensibilities, I think this advice is solid gold: Go to one of the remaining eight performances of Boise Contemporary Theater's "Tigers Be Still."

The 2012 campaigns for and against Propositions 1, 2 and 3 have busted the Idaho record for spending on ballot measures, with opponents having raised about $3.6 million and proponents about $2.6 million.

The standard was set in 1986 when 54 percent of voters affirmed the Legislature's passage of the Right to Work law, which bars union membership as a condition of employment. Unions spent $2.8 million attempting to overturn the law, proponents defended the measure with $1.167 million.

Timothy Egan, a New York Times columnist and celebrated non-fiction writer, will present the inaugural Cecil D. Andrus Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 in the Jordan Ballroom at the BSU Student Union Building. Egan will discuss post-election politics and his latest book about photographer Edward Curtis and his images of Native Americans.

The event is free.

Education Voters of Idaho complied with a court order Wednesday afternoon and reported raising $641,160 since its formation in August. The disclosure frees the group to spend $392,500 it had banked as of Oct. 21.

The top contributors are Joe Scott, a longtime backer of school reform, who gave $250,000; and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave $200,000 and was among the first three contributors. The next largest contribution -- $50,000 -- came from the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee.