Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of candidate profiles Idaho Education News will publish ahead of the May 19 primary election. We’re highlighting competitive races impacting education policy. Click here to see our Elections webpage featuring a list of all candidates and much more. Click here to see your voter information. Follow our elections blog for breaking news and insights.

Voters in District 1 may have déjà vu when they view their ballots this May.

For the fourth time since 2018, Idaho’s northernmost voters will choose between incumbent Jim Woodward and Scott Herndon.

Woodward, R-Sagle, is seeking his fourth term in the Senate. Herndon hopes to return to the chamber after losing to Woodward in the primary two years ago.

The pair frequently spar on social media, with Herndon arguing Woodward votes against tax cuts and transgender-related bills that would protect women and children.

“Jim Woodward always has an excuse for how he voted,” Herndon said.

Woodward defends those votes, arguing that specific issues in each bill would make them bad laws. He accuses Herndon of pushing ideologically driven legislation that lands the government in costly lawsuits.

Herndon touts his Idaho Freedom Foundation score and wants to abolish property taxes.

Woodward voted against tax cuts last year because he thought they were too steep.

Woodward was raised in Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho before joining the United States Navy, where he served as a submarine officer for 21 years, with combined active and reserve service.

He and his wife, Brenda, have been married for over 30 years and have two adult children. Brenda teaches at Sandpoint High School. Woodward owns a heavy construction company and serves on various local boards, including the Northern Lights Electric Cooperative.

Woodward describes himself as a “middle of the road” Idaho Republican.

“We just have some loud groups right now,” Woodward said. “We’re looking for a stable, predictable government.”

With that stability, Woodward hopes people can go enjoy Idaho’s natural beauty and the “live and let live type of attitude we’ve cherished for so long.”

Woodward sees education as one of the top issues in Idaho but acknowledges that the landscape has changed at the Statehouse in recent years.

“We have a lot of legislators in the legislature right now who don’t trust educators,” Woodward said. “Many of them have never been to a classroom, either, and so I’m hopeful that we’ll get a little bit of a reset after this election cycle.”

He wants to reopen conversations about the K-12 funding formula, hoping for a blend of enrollment and average daily attendance in the next proposal. He also wants the formula to address Idaho’s more than $100 million special education funding gap.

Woodward did not support the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit in 2025, due to what he called the lack of accountability measures in the bill.

He’s supportive of a proposal to increase the length of supplemental levies out of Coeur d’Alene from two years to four, citing voter exhaustion at constantly voting on school-related ballot measures.

Woodward said his focus is on whether or not a law is in the best interest of his constituents, above ideological lines.

He was one of the Republican votes against a bill that requires teachers to notify parents of requests by a student to “socially transition” by using a different name or pronouns. Woodward opposed the civil fines of up to $100,000 and the potential for litigation.

“That’s just not in line with what we’re talking about here,” Woodward said.

He said he trusts teachers to talk to their students’ parents. He also said some issues are better handled locally, citing the incident last summer when a transgender person used the female locker room at a Sandpoint YMCA.

Woodward said he orchestrated a meeting to reach a solution to make the facility safe for the high school swim teams that use it by scheduling team-only locker room time where members of the public would use other changing areas.

“We came up with a local solution,” Woodward said.

While he voted for the bill that will criminalize using a bathroom not in line with someone’s biological sex, he worries about expensive lawsuits tied to the new law.

Herndon grew up in Virginia before attending the Missouri Military Academy. He studied finance at Arizona State University and spent the early part of his career working in finance and computer programming.

He founded a custom homebuilding company in Bonner County, which he has operated for the last 20 years.

He and his wife, Arlene, have eight children. Herndon volunteered as a Bonner County Jail Chaplain and works with the Bonner County Republican Party.

Herndon wants to get rid of property taxes, arguing people are essentially renting from the government and should not be threatened with losing their homes if they can’t pay.

“That is the most immoral concept of property taxes,” Herndon said.

He said eliminating property taxes wouldn’t require raising other taxes, arguing spending cuts could offset the shift.

Those cuts would follow a projected deficit of $44.1 million for the 2026 fiscal year and sweeping cuts in the recently adopted state budget. 

Herndon describes himself as being right of center. He sees education as a top issue and calls Idaho’s test scores a “fundamental failure.” He said schools need stronger accountability tied to performance.

He supports a funding formula rewrite proposing a mix of enrollment and performance-based measures instead of average daily attendance.

“It’s obviously necessary to be spent as those kids need a little more of our attention,” Herndon said.

Herndon said he believes in the state constitution’s mandate to provide for those students but argues that programs like Idaho Launch should be cut to pay for those services.

He opposes extending the length of supplemental levies, in part, because he opposes all local property taxes. The two-year limit is “the ultimate poll” of voters and allows feedback from people who live under those taxes, Herndon said.

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