by Logan Finney, Idaho Reports

There were many surprises Tuesday night in Republican legislative primaries across Idaho — but in the handful of contested Democratic races on the other side of the aisle, it was a pretty tame affair.

The most traditional Democratic primary race featured two candidates running head-to-head in west Boise to challenge Republican Rep. Dori Healey for House Seat B in purple District 15. Shari Baber (1,194 votes) beat Ivan Hurlburt (584 votes) and will appear alongside incumbents Rep. Steve Berch and Sen. Rick Just in one of the few truly competitive legislative districts on the November ballot.

Rep. Todd Achilles benefitted from quasi-incumbency in District 16 after he was appointed in February to fill House Seat B, which was held by former Rep. Colin Nash until he resigned from the legislature upon his election to the Boise City Council.

Achilles ran to retain the seat in a safely blue district that straddles Boise and Garden City. While he earned less than a majority of votes in the highly anticipated four-way race, Achilles benefitted from endorsements by other sitting Democratic lawmakers and came in a comfortable 18 points ahead of the next candidate Nikson Mathews.

Also in District 16, incumbent Sen. Ali Rabe easily fended off a primary challenge from candidate Justice Mitson. The Ada County Democratic Party took the unusual step of endorsing her out of concern with some of Mitson’s unorthodox views.

District 1 voters overwhelmingly nominated Kathryn Larson over repeat candidate Bob Vickaryous, a lifelong North Idaho resident and John Birch Society supporter whose candidacy was denounced by the local Democratic party.

The few competitive primary races for Idaho Democrats sets the stage for the November 5th general election, in which a historic candidate drive has yielded at least one Democratic candidate in every legislative district for the first time in recent memory.