Evans returned to Malad after college to help run the family wheat and cattle ranch. but lost the
1946 election. Evans was re-elected in
1982, narrowly defeating Republican lieutenant governor
Phil Batt of
Wilder in a contest so close on election night that at least one Idaho television network incorrectly declared Batt the winner. After nearly a decade as a governor, Evans unsuccessfully ran for the
U.S. Senate in
1986, but was defeated by Republican incumbent
Steve Symms of
Caldwell.
Elections : ==Later life and death==