Earlier this year, we had the Republican Presidential Primary, followed later by the Democratic Party Caucuses, but Idaho is not finished yet with sorting out which candidates will ultimately be on the November general election ballot.
Tomorrow is the Idaho Statewide Primary, which will focus on candidates for state and local offices.
The May primary ballot will include 22 individuals running for local Boundary County office. Those local offices include precinct committee chairs, county commissioners, prosecuting attorney, and sheriff.
On the list of statewide offices in tomorrow's primary, we'll be voting for candidates to run for an Idaho U.S. Senator and for Idaho's representatives to Congress. Other offices listed in the May primary include positions in the Idaho Supreme Court, a judge in the Idaho Appellate Court, and our local Idaho Legislative District 1 State Senator and State Representatives.
The complete list of candidates who will be on the ballot for local Boundary County offices is shown in the following list:
Statewide, primary races that are relevant to Boundary County are shown in the graphic seen on the left below.
As seen in the accompanying graphic, Idaho Congressman Raúl Labrador is being challenged in the primary by two other Republicans. Three Democrats are also seeking that office. In an unusual note, two of the
candidates seeking Mr.
Labrador's seat as Idaho's District 1
Congressional Representative are not even living
in Idaho. Democratic candidate Shizandra Fox
listed a Glen Ellen, California address in her
filing paperwork, and Republican candidate Isaac
M. Haugen gave a Santa Rosa, California address
as his contact mailing address in his run for
Idaho Congressman.That certainly seems rather unusual, but apparently in Idaho a candidate need only be an Idaho resident by the day of the general election in November. So our California candidates for our Idaho Congressional seat have eight months to pack up and relocate if they are hoping to win the November election and subsequently head off to Washington to serve as an Idaho Congressional Representative.
Among the other candidates running for the seat currently held by Mr. Labrador:
Democrat James Piotrowski, an attorney who has lived in Boise since 1998. He attended law school in Cleveland, and specializes in civil rights, workers' rights, and disability law.
Democrat Staniela Nikolova from Moscow, Idaho, who appears to be a University of Idaho student, and who also appears to be studying there toward degrees in psychology and molecular biology / biotechnology.
Republican Gordon Counsil, of Caldwell, who lists experience as a farmer, landlord, and has an academic background in elementary education. Mr. Counsil ran as an independent candidate for Idaho State Representative of District 10 in 2014, losing that election.
Candidates in the running to unseat current Idaho U.S. Senator Mike Crapo are:
Democrat Jerry Sturgill, a Boise businessman who works as a managing director of Headwaters MB, a Denver-based investment banking firm that "provides investment banking services to entrepreneurs,
owner/operators and business-owning families." He previously was a corporate law partner at Latham & Watkins and Stoel Rives LLP. His career has included serving as chairman and CEO of other businesses. He has a law degree from Brigham Young University.
Constitution Party candidate Ray J. Writz, who has run for state office in Legislative District 4 previously (the Coeur d'Alene area), losing a 2010 campaign for State Senator, a 2012 campaign for State Representative, and a 2014 race for State Senator. In 2014 news reports he indicated he operated a janitorial service and had schooling from the DeVry Institute.
Constitution Party candidate Pro-Life, formerly known as Marvin Richardson until he legally changed his name, has previously run for Idaho governor in 2006, the U.S. Senate in 2008, governor in 2010, and governor in 2014. In the upcoming May 2016 Primary Election, his wife is running for a State Senate seat, and his son is running for State Representative. Mr. Pro-Life has indicated he has worked in sales, in accounting, and in farming.
Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones is retiring, and six candidates have filed for election to that position. Those candidates include:
Rupert Attorney Robyn Brody, who founded the Brody Law Office, and is a graduate of the University of Denver. She moved to Twin Falls following her graduation from law school, practiced there, and later started her own law firm, based in Rupert, in 2010. She has served as a past President of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, and currently serves on the board of the St. Nicholas Catholic School in Rupert.
Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez, who is currently one of four members of the Idaho Court of Appeals. He has served on the Court of Appeals since January 2002 after being appointed to the position by Governor Dirk Kempthorne. Since then he has been elected to serve two full terms on the court. He received his law degree from the University of California, Hastings Law School.
Curt McKenzie, currently a Republican state senator serving in his seventh term from District 13 (Canyon County area). He has a law degree from Georgetown University.
William Breck Seiniger, Jr., a Boise attorney who graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law. He practices in the field of personal injury law, and owns the private firm of Seiniger Law. He previously ran for a position on the Idaho Supreme Court in 2014, but lost to incumbent Joel Horton in the primary election that year.
Clive J. Strong, who currently serves as the Division Chief of the Natural Resources Division in the office of the Idaho Attorney General. He has been with the Idaho Attorney General's office for 33 years. He has a law degree from the University of Idaho and a masters of law degree from the University of Michigan.
Christ Troupis, an attorney in Eagle, Idaho, who operates Troupis Law Office, which is engaged in the general practice of civil law. He indicates his firm "concentrates in serving the needs of small business owners and their families. Presently, the practice is concentrated on real estate and business issues." He is a graduate of Northwestern University and of the University of Southern California.
In our local legislative district, incumbent Republican State Senator Shawn Keough is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Priest River resident Glenn Rohrer. Running unopposed as a Democrat for that State Senate position is Boundary County resident Steve Tanner.
Republican incumbent State Representative Heather Scott has no Republican challengers. Two Democrats will run in the Primary to oppose Ms. Scott in November. They are Stephen F. Howlett and Kate McAlister.
Our other State Representative, Republican incumbent Sage G. Dixon, is also running unopposed for the Republican nomination to serve another term in his position. Two Democrats, Sarah Althea Brotherton and Bob Vickaryous (who is from Boundary County), are vying to challenge Mr. Dixon in November.
To see the entire list of all statewide candidates running in the May 2016 primary, including all legislative districts, click here.