While Idahoans voted for legislators in 35 districts across the state, only four were nail-bitingly competitive: District 6 in north Idaho, 15 in Ada County, 26 in Magic Valley and Wood River Valley, and 29 in Pocatello. For all of these races, results didn’t come in until early morning Wednesday. Here’s a look at how they shook out.
District 6 – Latah, Lewis and northern Nez Perce counties
Republicans swept this district, leaving Latah County without a Democrat representing it for the first time in decades. Former senator Dan Foreman beat incumbent Sen. David Nelson, while incumbents Lori McCann and Brandon Mitchell held onto their House seats against Democratic challengers Trish Carter-Goodheart and Tim Gresback.
District 15 – West Boise
This Ada County district will remain purple, though Democrats picked up a seat here, with Rick Just beating Codi Galloway for the Senate seat. Incumbent Democrat Rep. Steve Berch beat challenger Steve Keyser, while Republican Dori Healey beat Jeff Nafsinger for an open seat in the House.
District 26 – Blaine, Lincoln and Jerome counties
It took until early morning for Jerome County to fully report, with corrected results on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough Republican votes for Senate candidate Laurie Lickley and House candidate Mike Pohanka. Democrats Ron Taylor and incumbent Ned Burns won seats in the newly formed District 26, while Republican Jack Nelsen picked up a seat in the traditionally blue delegation.
District 29 – Pocatello
After some confusion over whether Bannock County had fully reported, and an early morning rerun of ballots, we got results at about 2 am: Democrat James Ruchti beat Republican David Worley for the Senate seat, and Democrat Nate Roberts narrowly won over Republican Jake Stevens. Republican incumbent Dustin Manwaring held onto his seat against challenger Mary Shea.
###
