BOISE — Some political watchers are worried that Idaho's nonpartisan races are becoming increasingly partisan.

Boise State University political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby told The Spokesman-Review he sees a disturbing trend toward more partisanship in city elections.

"I fall back on the classic statement that there is no Democratic or Republican way to build a street," he said. "A lot of issues that confront city councils have less to do with ideology, and more to do with problem-solving, working on providing basic municipal services and dealing with quality-of-life issues."

The Idaho Republican Party Central Committee passed a resolution in June, calling for the party to participate in nonpartisan local elections and to identify and support the election of Republicans candidates to city councils, school boards and other local government posts.

Still, state GOP chairman Norm Semanko said it's up to the local parties to decide if they want to be involved in local elections.

The Idaho Democratic Party takes a different approach, with no official party endorsements but some city council candidates getting high-profile support from prominent Democrats like former Gov. Cecil Andrus.

"We do not endorse candidates in nonpartisan races, but of course we're encouraging people to get involved in their communities at all levels, and highly skilled people should and do run for city office," party executive director Jim Hansen said.

Hansen said he'd prefer it if county races were nonpartisan, too.

Steve Shaw, a political scientist at Northwest Nazarene University, noted that nonpartisan elections in Idaho tend to draw much lower turnouts than the higher-profile partisan races for state and national office.