by Idaho Reports staff
The Secretary of State website has posted an unofficial list of 2022 statewide and legislative candidates after the 5 p.m. Friday filing deadline. While it looks to be incomplete (as of 7:50 pm, it was still missing Democratic governor candidate Shelby Rognstad, who filed Friday), here are our takeaways.
This post will be updated when we get the final list.
Both chambers have high-profile retirements which will affect key committees. In the Senate, Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, and Assistant Minority Leader Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, have said this will be their last term. State Affairs Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, is also stepping down, as is Sen. Mark Nye. In the House, Health and Welfare Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, is also retiring this year, as is Agriculture Affairs Chairman Clark Kauffman, R-Filer.
House Appropriations is losing its chair and vice chair with the retirements of Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa, and Rep. Caroline Nilsson-Troy, R-Genesee.
The question of who will take those critical leadership roles in every House committee will be up to the next leadership team in the House. Those roles are up in the air, as House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, is running for lieutenant governor. He’ll face Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, in that primary, with the winner facing Democrat Terri Pickens Manweiler this November.
At least nine House members are hoping to hop to the Senate. Reps. Greg Chaney, Tammy Nichols, Doug Okuniewicz, Laurie Lickley, Ben Adams, Linda Hartgen, James Ruchti, and Terry Gestrin have all filed to run for the Senate in their new districts. Rep. Codi Galloway is challenging sitting Sen. Fred Martin in the primary in district 15.
Rep. Paul Amador, who initially announced he would run for the Senate, ended up filing for the House instead.
There are at least five races with incumbent face-offs, thanks to redistricting. In the new District 6, Sen. Robert Blair (technically a substitute this session for Sen. Dan Johnson, who is the new mayor of Lewiston) is running as a Republican against former Sen. Dan Foreman. The winner in that GOP primary will face incumbent Moscow Democrat Sen. David Nelson.
In southwest Idaho’s District 9, incumbent Sens. Jim Rice and Abby Lee are now in the same legislative district and are running against each other in the GOP primary. Kayla Dunn and Jordan Marques have also filed for that primary. Also in District 9, incumbent Reps. Scott Syme and Judy Boyle will face off.
In the new District 14, Sens. Steven Thayn and C. Scott Grow are both running in the GOP primary. In Legislative District 22, longtime Rep. John Vander Woude is now in the same district as Rep. Greg Ferch, who is in his first term. The two will challenge each other in May. Democrat Natalie MacLachlan also entered that race.
Familiar names are popping up in the filings, including former House member Phil Hart running for Senate in District 2. Former Sen. Dan Foreman is running in the new District 6, and former Rep. Steve Miller is running in District 24. In east Idaho, former Rep. Jeff Thompson will challenge sitting Rep. Barbara Ehardt in District 33, and former Rep. Brit Raybould will challenge incumbent Rep. Ron Nate for his seat in District 34.
In statewide races, former Idaho Congressman Raúl Labrador will challenge incumbent Lawrence Wasden for the attorney general’s seat. Arthur “Art” Macomber also entered the race for attorney general. And in Congressional District 2, attorney Bryan Smith is challenging Congressman Mike Simpson once again.
Former Democratic state senator Branden Durst and former Idaho State Board of Education president Debbie Critchfield are both challenging Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra in the Republican primary, while former Idaho Education Association president Terry Gilbert is running as a Democrat in that race.
Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane, who ran for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in 2014, is running again for the seat, as are Rep. Dorothy Moon and Sen. Mary Souza.
Melissa Davlin | Host, Lead Producer
Melissa Davlin is the lead producer and host of Idaho Reports. She has covered the Idaho Legislature since 2012. She also produces for Outdoor Idaho and Idaho Public Television. She has won multiple awards for her work, including a regional Emmy for her documentary on Chinese immigration in Idaho, Idaho Press Club broadcast reporter of the year for 2015 and 2019, the Idaho Press Club First Amendment Award, and the 2019 Boise State University Enhancing Public Discourse award. She lives in Boise with her husband and two children.
Logan Finney | Associate Producer
Logan Finney is a North Idaho native with a passion for media production and boring government meetings. He grew up skiing, hunting and hiking in the mountains of Bonner County and has maintained a lifelong interest in the state’s geography, history and politics. Logan joined the Idaho Reports team in 2020 as a legislative session intern and stayed to cover the COVID-19 pandemic. He was hired as an associate producer in 2021 and they haven’t been able to get rid of him since.
