A Republican, Denney previously served eighteen years in the Idaho House of Representatives, which included three terms as speaker.
[2][3][4][5] He was defeated in his reelection bid for speaker in 2012 by fellow Republican Scott Bedke.
[6][7] In the 2014 Idaho elections, Denney ran for the Republican nomination to succeed Ben Ysursa as secretary of state.
He defeated former state senator Evan Frasure, Ada County chief deputy clerk Phil McGrane, and former state senator Mitch Toryanski in the primary election.
[8] Denney defeated Democratic state representative Holli Woodings in the general election.