COEUR d'ALENE - There is optimism among local Democrats, and they feel education is going to be a winning issue for their party in upcoming elections.

Assembled Wednesday night at the Kootenai County Democratic Club's "Spring Forth" fundraising event at the Lake City Center, candidates and party leaders said the Republican domination of recent years has likely run its course.

"There is a feeling now in both groups, Democrats and Republicans, that something is afoot to re-centralize the situation," said Patrick Lippert, president of the county's Democratic Club. "We feel better about the general situation than we have."

He said re-balancing the politics of the state is priority No. 1.

"We want the quality of the argument to improve," Lippert said. Political debate will improve when a broader spectrum of ideas is considered, he said.

Democratic state House candidate Cheryl Stransky, of Dalton Gardens, said the party's strongest issue is education.

She said the state has underfunded education to the point where Idaho is at or near the bottom in every significant measure of support. She spent 33 years as a high-school counselor, and both of her children went through the Coeur d'Alene School District.

"We've got great teachers, we've got great families. We need to be supporting education," said Stransky, who is running for Vito Barbieri's seat. "We've got to move Idaho students into trade schools, into four-year colleges, and we're not going to get that done unless we elevate the status of education."

Support for education benefits the economy through a stronger work force, she said.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate A.J. Balukoff told the audience his No. 1 issue is education. He has been on the Boise school board for 16 years.

"I've watched over the last eight or nine years as our legislatures and governors have disinvested in public schools," Balukoff said. "We have a constitutional mandate to provide a uniform and thorough system of public schools in our state."

Bert Marley, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, taught high school for 23 years. Marley spent nine years in the Legislature, with stints both on the House and Senate education committees. His top issue is education, Marley said.

Balukoff said the state has suffered from one-party rule for too long. An exchange of ideas from two parties is needed.

"And then you can avoid the extreme, polarizing kind of bills and laws that we've seen typically over the last several years," Balukoff said.

Another top party issue is increasing minimum wage, which helps families work their way up and also gives businesses more customers with money to spend, said Anne Nesse, who is running for the House seat currently occupied by Kathleen Sims.

"Often on each committee, there are only two Democrats, so we really do need a better balance," Nesse said.

Jerry Shriner, a Democratic state Senate candidate from Coeur d'Alene, said Idaho offers a great quality of life in many ways. But people must be able to make a living wage to stay and enjoy it, he said.

"You can't have low taxes for business and low wages for employees and still expect families to make it here," said Shriner, who is running for Bob Nonini's seat.

There has to be a way for both businesses and families to prosper.

"The two of them have to go together," Shriner said. "Somehow we have to do that, because I don't think Republicans have done that. They've had 20 years, roughly, to make that work."