Karlie and Amanda Easley sat on their couch in April to record their first campaign video for TikTok.

“We’re a married lesbian couple running for office in deep-red Idaho,” Amanda said, followed by a gasp sound effect and a picture of a surprised cat. “Yeah, we know.”

“We’re not politicians,” Karlie said. “We’re moms.”

The 42-second video became their most popular post on social media, racking up 77,000 views and 15,000 likes. It introduced the Democratic candidates for the Idaho Senate and House to the world. The Easleys have posted dozens of similar videos this year, filled with giggles, wigs, dancing, and a serious focus on some of the most contentious issues in Idaho.

“We’re not just running against two incumbents,” Karlie said in a July video. “We’re running against the Senate and House majority leaders, Lori Den Hartog and Jason Monks.”

“They were the sponsor and co-sponsor of the school voucher bill that put $50 million that could have gone into public schools into private hands instead,” Amanda said.

But when the Easleys filed to run for the Idaho Legislature in late February, they had not yet realized who they were running against. 

“There wasn’t time for that,” Karlie told EdNews on Tuesday at a Boise coffee shop. “Like, I’m making dinner, she’s walking the dog.”

On the Friday before filing week, Amanda saw a Facebook post on the Idaho Women Forward group asking members to run for office against uncontested incumbents. She called her wife to pitch the idea.

“If you would have asked me the Thursday before that phone call if I’d ever get into politics, I would have said no,” Karlie said.

On Monday, they both met with Louise Seeley, co-lead of Idaho Women Forward and state committeewoman for the Ada County Democrats. Before the meeting, the Easleys tried to decide which one of them would run. They didn’t know two seats had uncontested Republicans.

“I said, ‘Well, there’s a Senate seat and a House seat up for grabs, and I think you both should do it,'” Seeley told EdNews on Thursday. “And they went, ‘Really?'”

On Feb. 25 Karlie filed to run for Senate in District 22 and Amanda filed to run for House Seat B. Then, they realized what is at stake for public education.

“We were seeing the outcomes and frustrated by the outcomes, and then we were like, wait, District 22 was essentially the epicenter for this voucher program,” Amanda said.

The Easleys now face an uphill battle against two well-funded, well-known Republican leaders.

Karlie’s opponent, Senate Majority Leader Den Hartog, R-Meridian, was first elected in 2014 and has a $62,500 war chest. Karlie’s campaign has $9,000 in the bank.

Den Hartog sponsored House Bill 93 in 2025, which created the $50 million Parental Choice Tax Credit allowing families to receive $5,000 in tax credits per child enrolled in a non-public school, or $7,500 for a child with disabilities.

Amanda’s opponent, House Majority Leader Jason Monks, also R-Meridian, was elected in 2012 and has a $51,600 war chest. Amanda’s campaign has $7,700 in the bank.

Monks co-sponsored the tax credit, which the Easleys say they would fight to repeal if elected.

There are four swing districts in Idaho, and District 22  — made up of parts of Meridian, Kuna and southwest Boise — is not one of them. In 2024, Monks and Den Hartog both easily won re-election with 66% of the vote.

Despite the odds, the Easleys see a path to victory. In February, as they discussed jumping into politics, they agreed that if they ran, they would go all in and run serious campaigns. They aren’t placeholder candidates.

“What are we going to be able to say we did during this time in history?” Amanda said.

In a typical year, she said, there probably wouldn’t be a chance. But this year is different.

It’s a midterm election year where Democrats across the country have flipped Republican stronghold districts in special elections. The Idaho Legislature is expecting another year of “maintenance only” budgets. The cost of diesel is at an all-time high. Plus, a ballot initiative to overturn Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion may bring more voters out to the polls in November.

“If it’s going to happen, this is going to be the year,” Amanda said.

Two problem solvers from the ‘liberal factories’ of Idaho and Texas

Karlie is a fourth-generation Idahoan, and Amanda moved to Idaho in 2018.

“But I came from Texas, not Seattle or California or any of the places that people tend to assume,” she said.

“We like to joke that we’re from the liberal factories of Idaho and Texas,” Karlie added.

Karlie said a lot of people might conclude that a lesbian couple running in Idaho is going to be on the extreme left. They are both Democrats, she said, but they believe in common sense, local solutions and compassion.

As a lifelong Idahoan, she grew up with a “live and let live” Idaho mentality. People took care of their neighbors, looked out for each other, did their best and respected each other.

“We are not looking to change that at all,” Karlie said. “I’m looking to get back to that.”

They’ve been married for six years and are raising Karlie’s 12-year-old son. They met shortly after Amanda moved to Idaho, were friends for a year, dated for a year, then got married in September 2020.

Amanda is a former veterinary technician who now runs her own business as a sales consultant for a large veterinary supply company. She said she’s a professional problem solver who resolves friction in the sales process.

When presented with a problem, she first makes sure she understands the problem, then involves people who would be impacted by the solution and makes sure the solution doesn’t cause more problems.

Karlie is a different kind of problem solver. She is a hospice nurse with 12 years of experience. 

She cares for patients who are either dying or recently diagnosed. They typically have six months left to live. Her patients range from kids to centenarians.

It’s a complex job that involves caring for a patient’s medical, social, emotional and spiritual needs. Sometimes she has to help find a home for a patient’s pet. Sometimes she has to ask a patient if there is anyone they need to make amends with in their final days.

“Is there somebody that needs to let them know, to whisper in their ear, ‘I’m going to be OK,’ or ‘It’s OK to go,'” Karlie said.

She’s also seen beautiful moments, like an elderly couple renewing their vows after 70 years of marriage.

“I’ve got to see what true love looks like,” Karlie said.

She was working 50 hours per week but cut it down to 12 to campaign.

Along with a team of volunteers, Karlie and Amanda have been knocking on doors, putting on meet-and-greets at local parks and public libraries, and posting social media videos. They are working on producing digital ads and mailers in the coming weeks.

Amanda said social media videos help them reach people who are probably already interested in their campaign, while door-knocking reaches people who don’t know them.

“We’re physically more exhausted than we’ve ever been, but I think emotionally, both of us are really energized because we never expected to get this level of support,” she said.

While most comments on social media are positive, the Easleys say they have seen some negative or hateful comments online. But Amanda said comments from young people, particularly LGBTQ youth who say their campaigns inspire hope, remind her of “the why.”

“Felt so alone,” one commenter on TikTok wrote. “So happy to see this.”

Social media isn’t everything, Amanda said, but it’s a great way to share what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Neither of their opponents is particularly active on social media or holds as many campaign events.

Den Hartog’s last post on Facebook was in October 2024, and the “upcoming events” section on her campaign website lists two items, both from the spring of 2025. Monks is more active on Facebook, with a few posts a month.

Both Monks and Den Hartog attended a town hall event in October to discuss the Parental Choice Tax Credit. As EdNews reported, many attendees were critical of the program.

“I think fundamentally they know they have more to lose than they do to gain,” Amanda said.

Group encourages women to run for office

The Easleys would not have filed to run for office if not for a post on the Idaho Women Forward Facebook page.

When Seeley, the group’s co-leader, first met Amanda and Karlie in late February, she said her first impression was they are both organized, sharp as a tack, intelligent and caring.

“They are, I think, dream candidates,” she said.

Seeley has been encouraging and recruiting women to run for office in Idaho for several years, along with Idaho Women Forward co-founder Betty Richardson, a former U.S. Attorney appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Richardson said they don’t want to recruit placeholder candidates just to have a name on a ballot. They want real people who are interested in seriously running for office. She said that’s what they found in the Easleys.

“Their purpose is serious, but they bring a sense of lightness and humor, and I think that people want that,” Richardson said. “They want people who are authentic.”

The Easleys emphasized in an interview with EdNews that they are not hiding who they are.

Karlie said some people tend to disengage from politics if they view leaders as “liars or crooks,” so they are trying to be as honest and approachable as possible.

“I think that if the positive influence that me and Amanda make is to make politics just a little bit more approachable for folks, that they get engaged, and that’s all we achieve, that’s winning,” Karlie said. “Because that’s what our democracy needs.”