Idaho Election Filing Showcases Retirements & New Faces

Posted by Ben Shuey on March 11, 2022

Today is the filing deadline to run for office in the upcoming primary election in Idaho, which takes place on May 17th, with the General Election on Nov. 8.

In many areas of Idaho, the primary election may be the only election that has candidates filed for office or that will be impactful for the final outcome of the election in November. In that regard, we want to ensure our credit union advocates start gathering information on who will be running for office in the upcoming elections and which candidates are strong credit union supporters.

The 2022 mid-term elections are of extreme importance in Idaho, as every statewide office, two congressional seats, and one U.S. Senate seat, as well as every seat in the Idaho Legislature, will be on the ballot. With the newly redrawn legislative districts, many candidates will be running in different districts or for open seats with new faces coming into the election process.

As in the past, the NWCUA Advocacy Team will be joining credit union advocates to interview new candidates as well as providing a list of candidates that are recommended and/or financially supported by the NWCUA, prior to the election. We would greatly appreciate your willingness to join our team for some of these upcoming meetings, which will kick off immediately following the wrap-up of the 2022 Idaho Legislative Session.  We expect that to be around the first week in April.

As today is the filing deadline, we want to provide our members with a quick rundown on the significant shift in the makeup of the Idaho Legislature. In addition, for those political enthusiasts, like our advocacy team, you can track real-time filings to run for office at the Idaho Secretary of State’s website, which can be accessed here.

If you do visit that site early in the day, you may notice that Governor Brad Little and Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin, who have publicly announced their intention to run for Governor, have not yet filed to seek that office. We expect to see some additional filing before the end of the day. In the meantime, here is the latest changes we are seeing in the Idaho Legislature:

Filed to Run for a New Seat:

• Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R – White Bird – 2) —Running for Lt. Governor
• Rep. Doug Okuniewicz (R – Hayden – 3) — Running for the Idaho Senate
• Senator Mary Souza (R – Coeur d’Alene – 4) — Running for Secretary of State
• Rep. Paul Amador (R – Coeur d’Alene – 4) — Running for the Idaho Senate*
• Rep. Dorothy Moon (R – Stanley – 8) — Running for Secretary of State
• Rep. Terry Gestrin (R – Donnelly – 8) — Running for the Idaho Senate
• Rep. Greg Chaney (R – Caldwell – 10) — Running for the Idaho Senate*
• Rep. Tammy Nichols (R – Middleton – 11) — Running for the Idaho Senate
• Rep. Ben Adams (R – Nampa – 13) — Running for the Idaho Senate
• Senator Ali Rabe (D – Boise – 17) — Stepped down as she moved out of the district; running for Senate in Dist. 16
• Rep. Linda Wright Hartgen (R – Twin Falls – 25) — Running for the Idaho Senate
• Rep. Laurie Lickley (R – Jerome – 24) — Running for the Senate
• Rep. James Ruchti (D – Pocatello – 28) — Running for the Senate
• House Speaker Scott Bedke (R – Oakley – 27) — Running for Lt. Governor*
• Rep. Codi Galloway, (R – Boise/Meridian – 15) — Running for the Senate

Retirements Announced:

• Senator Steve Vick (R – Dalton Gardens – 3)
• Rep. Caroline Troy (R – Genesee – 5)
• Senator Patti Ann Lodge (R – Huston – 11) — Chair of Senate State Affairs Committee*
• Rep. Rick Youngblood (R – Nampa – 12) — Co-Chair of Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC)*
• Senator Grant Burgoyne (D – Garden City / Boise – 16)
• Rep. John McCrostie (D – Garden City / Boise – 16)
• Senator Regina Bayer (R – Boise / Meridian – 21)
• Rep. Steve Harris (R – Boise / Meridian – 21) — Chair of House Revenue & Taxation Committee*
• Senator Christy Zito (R – Hammett – 23)
• Rep. Clark Kauffman (R – Filer – 25) — Chair of House Agriculture Committee*
• Senator Michelle Stennett (D – Ketchum – 26)
• Rep. Sally Toone (D – Gooding – 26)
• Rep. Muffy Davis (D – Ketchum – 26) — Was appointed to Blaine County Commission, and replacement Ned Burns is running for a seat
• Rep. Fred Wood (R – Burley – 27) — Chair of House Health & Welfare Committee*
• Senator Mark Nye (D – Pocatello – 29)
• Rep. Gary Marshall (R – Idaho Falls – 30)
• Senator Steve Bair (R – Blackfoot – 31) — Already retired, and replacement Julie Van Orden running for seat
• Rep. Marc Gibbs (R – Grace – 32) — Chair of House Resources & Conservation Committee*

New Elected Office Sought – 15 seats w/ new legislators filling those seats

Retirements – 18 seats w/ new legislators filling those seats

In addition to the 23 guaranteed new legislators from retirements and current legislators seeking higher office, we have a situation that has pit incumbent legislators against each other.

As we previously reported, the rebalancing and redrawing of legislative districts that takes place following the U.S. Census every ten years has placed several sitting Idaho Legislators into the same district. Initially, this process led to a number of retirements of those who did not want to run for election against former seatmates or political colleagues; however, legislators who are “double-bunked” must make a hard choice to remain in office. Double-bunking is when two incumbent legislators are redrawn into the same district and if they want to remain in the Idaho Legislature, they have to run against one another. Currently, we have double-bunked legislators in the following races:

• Senator Jim Rice (R – Caldwell – 9) and Senator Abby Lee (R – Sand Hallow – 10) — Running for Senate in District 9
• Rep. Scott Syme (R – Caldwell – 11) and Rep. Judy Boyle (R – Fruitland – 11) — Running for House Seat B in District 9
• Senator Steven Thayn (R – Emmett – 8) and Senator C. Scott Grow (R – Eagle/Meridian – 14) — Running for Senate in District 14
• Senator Fred Martin (R – Boise – 15) and Rep. Codi Galloway (R – Boise – 15) — Running for the Senate in District 15
• Rep. Jason Monks (R – Meridian – 22) and Rep. Greg Ferch (R – Boise/Meridian – 21) — Running for House Seat A in District 22

The NWCUA Advocacy Team will closely monitor the filing deadline and the upcoming preparation for the 2022 Primary and General Elections.  Again, the NWCUA team will provide a list of candidates who are credit union supporters as well as candidates that are recommended and/or financially supported by the NWCUA, prior to the election. We want to ensure that our CU Family is properly prepared and educated for the upcoming election, as we expect a 35-45% turnover in the Idaho Legislature.

Posted in Advocacy News, Advocacy on the Move, Idaho Advocacy.