John Evans | |
|---|---|
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| 27thGovernor 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 theIdaho Senate | |
| In office 1953–1959 1969-1975 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Victor Evans (1925-01-18)January 18, 1925 Malad City, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 2014(2014-07-08) (aged 89) Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Resting place | Malad City Cemetery Malad City, Idaho, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Unit | Infantry |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
John Victor Evans Sr. (January 18, 1925 – July 8, 2014) was an American politician fromIdaho. A member of theDemocratic Party, he was the state's 27thgovernor and was in office for 10 years, from 1977 to 1987.[1][2]
Born inMalad, Idaho,[3] Evans was aninfantryman in theU.S. Army duringWorld War II. Following the war, he attendedStanford 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]
Evans returned to Malad after college to help run the family wheat and cattle ranch.[5] He was elected to thestate 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 ofMalad 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 electedlieutenant governor in 1974,[1] and became governor in January 1977 whenCecil Andrus accepted an appointment to become theSecretary of the Interior in the newCarter administration.
Evans finished Andrus' term and was elected governor in his own right in1978, defeatingRepublican housespeakerAllan Larsen ofBlackfoot. As of 2023[update], Evans remains the onlyMormon to have won election as governor in Idaho.[3]Arnold Williams was the Mormon first to serve as governor (succeeding to the office following the resignation ofCharles Gossett), holding office for slightly over a year starting in late 1945,[6] but lost the1946 election.
Evans was re-elected in1982, narrowly defeating Republican lieutenant governorPhil Batt ofWilder in a contest so close on election night that at least one Idaho television network incorrectly declared Batt the winner.[7][8]
After nearly a decade as a governor, Evans unsuccessfully ran for theU.S. Senate in1986,[9] but was defeated by Republican incumbentSteve Symms ofCaldwell.[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.
While he was in office as governor in 1981, Evans's 29-year-old son John was the target of a foiled kidnapping attempt inBurley.[10][11]
| 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% | |||||||
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | John Evans | 185,066 | 48.4% | Steve Symms (inc.) | 196,958 | 51.6% |
Evans became president of the family-ownedD. L. Evans Bank inBurley in January 1987,[13][14] which was founded in 1904 inAlbion 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 a year later, Evans' widow, Lola, died at her Boise home on May 19, 2015, at the age of 88.[17] They are interred at the Malad City Cemetery in Malad City.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Idaho 1975–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Idaho 1977–1987 | Succeeded by Cecil Andrus |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Cecil Andrus | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Idaho 1978,1982 | Succeeded by Cecil Andrus |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forSenator fromIdaho (Class 3) 1986 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
