Here's a short diversion from analyzing the redistricting of Idaho's legislative districts (the shifts for the most part were boring and didn't change much anyways)
In the year 2011, Idaho's one Democratic stronghold is the city of Boise. Discounting its suburbs, it is a legitimately liberal city, one that voted for Obama by a significant margin (10 points, 55 Obama to 45 McCain) and one that in any average statewide race will vote for the Democratic candidate barring an underperformance. However all of this is a recent phenomena. In the past, Boise was actually known as Idaho's Republican stronghold. In 1964 while the presently Republican strongholds of Idaho, Clearwater and Lewis County were voting for Johnson, Ada County voted for Goldwater with 56% of the vote. In the relatively good year for Democrats of 1976, it voted for Ford with 64% of the vote. Up until the 90s, Boise remained a largely Republican city and it took until the mid 90s for things to start to shift in a big way. Here are some rough statistics showing Boise's sea change from a heavily Republican and somewhat sleepy capital city to a city that is becoming known for progressivism and huge outgrowth.
First off we'll use county results as a whole:
Ada County (1988)
Bush 62.9%
Dukakis 35.0%
R +1 statewide PVI
Ada County (1992)
Bush 44.5%
Clinton 29.0%
Perot 25.6%
R +2 statewide PVI
Ada County (1996)
Dole 52.5%
Clinton 36.6%
Perot 9.5%
D +3 statewide PVI
Ada County (2000)
Bush 60.8%
Gore 32.9%
Nader 3.9%
D +6 statewide PVI
Ada County (2004)
Bush 61.0%
Kerry 37.8%
D +7 statewide PVI
Ada County (2008)
McCain 51.6%
Obama 45.5%
D +10 statewide PVI
As you can see the shifts have been dramatic. Before I go into my detailed explanation of how exactly they've occurred in what neighborhoods and the like I'll show you how Boise has voted for legislative elections since 1992.
1992
Ada County Senators
6 R
1 D
Ada County Representatives
12 R
2 D
1994
Ada County Senators
6 R
1 D
Ada County Representatives
13 R
1 D
1996
Ada County Senators
6 R
1 D
Ada County Representatives
11 R
3 D
1998
Ada County Senators
6 R
1 D
Ada County Representatives
11 R
3 D
2000
Ada County Senators
6 R
1 D
Ada County Representatives
11 R
3 D
2002
Ada County Senators
6 R
2 D
Ada County Representatives
12 R
4 D
2004
Ada County Senators
5 R
3 D
Ada County Representatives
13 R
3 D
2006
Ada County Senators
4 R
4 D
Ada County Representatives
8 R
8 D
2008
Ada County Senators
4 R
4 D
Ada County Representatives
8 R
8 D
2010
Ada County Senators
5 R
3 D
Ada County Representatives
9 R
7 D
As you can see the Democratic shift has been especially pronounced this decade and will probably continue, seeing as the two seats Democrats lost in the ultimate electoral Armageddon of 2010 were lost by less than 10 votes and will probably be easily won back. 2010 wasn't that bad of an election for Democrats in Boise, in fact our candidate for state Superintendent won Ada County convincingly. Here are the dramatic shifts in Idaho's Democratic districts over the naughts.
District 16 (old district)
2000 Presidential
Bush 54.7%
Gore 38.1%
Nader 4.5%
2004 Presidential
Bush 55.2%
Kerry 43.5%
2008 Presidential
Obama 53.0%
McCain 44.5%
District 17 (old district)
2000 Presidential
Bush 56.4%
Gore 36.7%
Nader 3.9%
2004 Presidential
Bush 50.1%
Kerry 46.7%
2008 Presidential
Obama 56.6%
McCain 40.1%
District 18 (old district)
2000 Presidential
Bush 54.8%
Gore 38.1%
Nader 4.7%
2004 Presidential
Bush 54.7%
Kerry 46.5%
2008 Presidential
Obama 52.7%
McCain 45.1%
District 19 (old district)
2000 Presidential
Gore 45.8%
Bush 40.4%
Nader 11.1%
2004 Presidential
Kerry 60.5%
Bush 37.8%
2008 Presidential
Obama 67.9%
McCain 29.9%
I would go into detail as to why Boise has shifted so dramatically but to be honest I don't fully understand why. It does fit the characteristics of a city that should be demographically in line with Democrats and the brand of Republican politics practiced in Boise was far more moderate than the current brand of Idaho Republicans. Not to mention the northend of Boise has become a hotspot for yuppies and alt-types that you'd normally find in Boulder, SLC, Seattle, Denver and the like. I'm not going to lie and say that I know much about Boise though, it's foreign territory to me. I've only been there four times. I do know that it should become a Democratic stronghold over the next decade. As the political culture of Boise continues to rapidly shift, it should become far removed from the rest of the state.