Election Notes
2.2.22: Meridian councilman to run for state Senate
Meridian City Council President Treg Bernt says he will run for state Senate, setting up a potential primary race with a sitting lawmaker.
Bernt, re-elected to a second City Council term in November, will run as a Republican in legislative District 21.
Bernt said he was encouraged to run for the Legislature while he was campaigning for City Council. He says voters are frustrated because lawmakers are failing to address issues such as growth and property taxes.
“Our citizens need a strong voice in the Legislature focused on what impacts them daily — schools, roads, and taxes,” Bernt said in a news release Wednesday.
Bernt will formally launch his campaign with a kickoff event on Feb. 11. But he has already named a campaign treasurer, a precursor to raising money for a race. His treasurer will be Lori Frasure, elected in November to the West Ada School Board.
District 21 is home to a sitting incumbent: two-term Sen. Regina Bayer, R-Meridian. She has not announced whether she will seek re-election.
1.31.22: Wood, Kauffman to retire after 2022 session
Two veteran Magic Valley legislators will not seek re-election in 2022.
Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, is retiring after eight terms in the Legislature. The only physician in the Legislature, Wood has held a high-profile post in the House, chairing the Health and Welfare Committee.
“Sixteen years is long enough,” Wood told Audrey Dutton of the Idaho Capital Sun.
Wood’s retirement will create not just a void in House Health and Welfare, but it sets the stage for some contested primary races in the Magic Valley’s legislative District 27. Wood’s seatmate, House Speaker Scott Bedke, is running for lieutenant governor. (The district’s senator is Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, who serves as Senate majority leader.)
According to an Idaho Education News review of campaign finance filings, five District 27 Republicans have filed paperwork naming a campaign treasurer, a precursor to raising money for a race:
- Senate: William Drury.
- House Seat A: Douglas Pickett; Carl Voigt.
- House Seat B: John Stokes; Kevin Williams.
The crowded primaries represent a contrast from 2020. Wood, Anthon and Bedke ran unopposed in the primary and general elections.
Meanwhile, Rep. Clark Kauffman, R-Filer, will step down after 10 years in the House, the Twin Falls Times-News reported last week.
“Life’s priorities change with age, and so have mine,” Kauffman said in a constituent newsletter. “New eyes and views on our ongoing challenges are a good thing.
Kauffman is one of three incumbent lawmakers who live in legislative District 24, along with Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, and Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding. Three Republicans have filed initial paperwork to run in District 24:
- Senate: Frank Mascari; Glenneda Zuiderveld.
- House Seat A: Chenele Dixon.
The candidate filing period runs from Feb. 28 through March 11.
1.31.22: Lickley to seek Senate seat
After two terms in the House, Rep. Laurie Lickley will run for the state Senate.
“I did not make the decision to run for the Senate lightly,” Lickley told the Twin Falls Times-News last week. “It’s time for me to take in maybe a different demographic than I’ve worked with in the past.”
Lickley is running in a new-look legislative district.
For the past four years, her district took in Jerome County and portions of Twin Falls County. Under the new legislative map — upheld by the state Supreme Court Thursday — her district will include Jerome, Lincoln and Blaine counties.
Blaine County is one of Idaho’s few Democratic strongholds, and home to Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum. Stennett has not announced whether she will seek a seventh term.
1.27.22: Supreme Court upholds redistricting maps
The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld a new legislative map, rejecting four separate lawsuits to toss out the plan.
Here’s a link to the court’s unanimous ruling, issued late Thursday afternoon.
The new map redraws Idaho’s legislative districts to reflect the 2020 Census, and it will now go into effect for the 2022 elections.
A bipartisan commission approved the new map in early November. The court challenges came soon after: from GOP state superintendent’s candidate Branden Durst; from Ada County commissioners; from Spencer Stucki, a Chubbuck resident; and from Chief J. Allan, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and Devon Boyer, chairman of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes.
More about Thursday’s ruling from Clark Corbin of Idaho Capital Sun.
1.18.22: Rognstad predicts ‘bidding war of crazy ideas’ at Statehouse
In a fundraising video, Sandpoint mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shelby Rognstad blasted GOP incumbent Brad Little’s rosy State of the State message last week.
The three-minute video was short on details but sharp in tone. Rognstad predicted Little and the Legislature will spend the 2022 session wasting time and taxpayer dollars on “a bidding war of crazy ideas” designed to appeal to GOP primary voters.
“The governor and the Legislature have a clear choice in the coming session. They can get serious about working on the real problems confronting Idaho, like affordability, education and health care, or they can engage in an extremist political theater of the absurd.”
Rognstad, who has served as mayor for six years, said he is seeing several problems unfolding in Sandpoint: employers who cannot fill long-vacant positions, people leaving their hometowns because they can no longer afford to live there, and a “political hatred” that is dividing communities.
“I think we need to be honest,” he said. “We are in trouble, and it’s getting worse.”
Rognstad and Melissa Sue Robinson of Nampa are the Democrats’ two announced gubernatorial candidates.
1.12.22: Democratic Party chair to step down, citing health issues
State Democratic Party head Fred Cornforth will step down this week.
“I am facing a medical condition that will preempt me from functioning as chair of the Idaho Democratic Party,” Cornforth said in a statement Wednesday.
His resignation, effective Saturday, leaves Democrats looking for a successor as the 2022 election year begins.
Cornforth’s full statement follows:
“Today, I have some difficult news to share with you. I am facing a medical condition that will preempt me from functioning as chair of the Idaho Democratic Party. Currently, I am working with Party staff and leadership to transition out of my role as Chair effective January 15th.
“I am full of gratitude for all we’ve done together and I’m frustrated that the fire burning inside of me to serve you and our fellow Idahoans, doesn’t have a clear direction right now. I do know this: the momentum that many of us have observed or have been a part of the last few years is strong and growing in every part of Idaho.
“The people in the Idaho Democratic Party today are bringing leadership and a commitment to our values as Idahoans to a state where it is long overdue. Keep being a part of the dramatic changes we are bringing to our communities and our party and our state. It has been a privilege and one of the greatest honors of my life to serve you as the chair of the Idaho Democratic Party. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and notes. You’ve touched me and my family in ways that words fail to show you how much each of you means to me.
“To a better Idaho, for everyone.”
1.10.22: Jeb Bush praises Little’s education agenda
Janice McGeachin has Donald Trump.
Brad Little has Jeb Bush.
On Monday, Little got a long-distance shoutout from Bush, the former Florida governor and unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate. Bush is founder of ExcelInEd, a nonprofit “that supports state leaders in transforming education to unlock opportunity and lifelong success for each and every child.”
Bush singled out two pillars from Little’s 2022 education budget: A $47 million literacy line item that could allow schools to fund all-day kindergarten; and a $50 million grant program to help parents pay education-related expenses.
“Gov. Little is smartly focusing on the things we know work best: a solid foundation in reading and more flexible learning options for students. In states across the nation, the pandemic has exposed existing challenges for struggling readers and highlighted the need to give parents more power in guiding their child’s education. Gov. Little’s investments in students – not systems – will benefit Idaho’s families and communities and the entire state.”
1.5.22: Crapo to seek fifth U.S. Senate term
Sen. Mike Crapo made it official Wednesday, saying he will seek a fifth U.S. Senate term in 2022.
Crapo was first elected to Congress in 1992, and first elected to the Senate in 1998.
Here’s his statement Wednesday:
“We are in the middle of the most important fight for our future that most of us alive today have experienced. The threats to our values, our way of life and our Constitution itself are intense, extremely well-funded and well-organized. We must rise to that challenge and be heavily engaged in it. I am running for re-election to stay in this fight for a future that assures every American the freedoms so many have fought and died to protect. I will work hard to earn the honor and privilege to continue advocating for Idaho principles and values in the United States Senate.”
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Crapo faces four lesser-known opponents: Republicans Jeremy Gilbert of Boise, Mike Little of Weiser and James Scott Trotter of Lewiston; and unaffiliated candidate Scott Cleveland of Eagle. None of these challengers have reported any fundraising activity. According to the FEC, Crapo’s campaign had nearly $5.4 million in cash on hand on Sept. 30.