Richard H. Stallings
Richard Howard Stallings (born
October 7,
1940 in
Ogden,
Utah) is a
Pocatello,
Idaho, city councilman and chairman of the
Idaho Democratic Party. He represented the
Idaho Second District in the
House of Representatives from
1985 to
1993.
Stallings earned degrees from
Weber State College,
Utah State University and
Colorado College. Beginning in 1969 Stallings taught history at
Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) in
Rexburg, Idaho.
Idaho Democrats nominated Stallings to challenge Rep.
George V. Hansen in
1982, but he lost in the general election. In
1984, after Hansen was
censured by the House of Representatives for various ethics violations, Stallings defeated him in a hotly contested race by fewer than 200 votes. Despite representing a heavily Republican district, Stallings won his subsequent reelection campaigns by comfortable margins.
A conservative Democrat, Stallings unexpectedly won a handful of votes for the
presidential nomination from
pro-life delegates to the
1988 Democratic National Convention.
Stallings was the Democratic nominee for the
United States Senate in Idaho in
1992 but lost to Republican
Dirk Kempthorne. In
1993 he was appointed United States Nuclear Waste Negotiator by President
Bill Clinton. He served in that capacity until the office was eliminated in early
1995.
In
1998 Stallings attempted to win his old House seat back but was defeated by
Mike Simpson. After leaving Congress, Stallings later served as executive director of the Pocatello Neighborhood Housing Services and later on the Pocatello City Council. In
2005 Stallings won both election to the state Democratic chairmanship and reelection to the Pocatello City Council.
