2024 Political Races in Idaho’s Counties
By Sarah Clendenon • March 24, 2024Last week the Idaho Dispatch brought you information on who has filed to run for seats in the Idaho House of Representatives and the Idaho State Senate from the 35 Legislative Districts of the state. Here we highlight some of the races and candidates for county level offices across the 44 Idaho Counties.
Idaho’s most populated county, Ada, has Commissioner seats for District 1 and District 3 up for election in 2024. Incumbents Ryan Davidson and Tom Dayley will both face multiple challengers from the Republican and Democratic parties. No third party candidates filed for these two races.
In the race for Ada County Sheriff, Republican incumbent Matthew Clifford does not have a Republican primary challenger, but will face Democrat Victor McCraw and Constitution Party Doug Traubel in the November general election.
The Ada County Prosecutor contest consists of Republican incumbent Jan Bennetts squaring off against Democrat Johnathan Baldauf in the general election.
More information on Ada County races can be found here.
Canyon County Commissioner Districts 1 and 3 will be decided again in 2024. For District 1, incumbent Leslie Van Beek will face two Republican challengers in the primary – Theresa Denham and Pam Blacker Wagoner. No one in any other political party filed to run for this seat, so the primary election will determine the overall winner.
For District 3, incumbent Zach Brooks has been challenged in the primary by Republican Richard D. Williams. The winner of the primary will face a Democrat in November – Kyle Thompson.
Canyon County Clerk incumbent Rick Hogaboam is running completely unopposed in 2024, so he will retain his office.
Canyon County Sheriff incumbent Republican Kieran Donahue is also running completely unopposed and will retain his office for another term.
In the race for Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney, Republican incumbent Chris Boyd will face Republican Greg Chaney in the May primary election. The winner of the primary will be unopposed in the November general election.
Additional Canyon County candidate and election information can be found here.
Blaine County is also set to elect Commissioners for their District 1 and 3 seats in 2024. In District 1, Democrats Chris Johnson and Lindsay Mollineaux will battle in the primary for the overall winner. No other party filed to run. In District 3, Democrat Angenie McCleary is running completely unopposed in the primary and general election, so is the automatic winner.
For Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney, Democrat Matt Fredback is running completely unopposed.
The Blaine County Sheriff race has two Democrats running – Morgan Ballis and Steve Harkins. The primary winner among those two will face Republican Aaron Hughston in November.
More Blaine County election information can be found here.
The Kootenai County Commissioner District 1 seat filings show four Republicans listed at the time of print. A fifth Republican has withdrawn. The four who remain include Marc Eberlein, Dale Gibboney, “Bat” Masterson, and John Padula.
The Commissioner District 3 race includes two Republicans – Leslie Duncan and Brett Surplus. The winner in that primary will face Independent Roger Rowland in the November general election.
The Kootenai County Sheriff race filings show two Republicans facing off in the primary – Bob Norris and Mike Bauer. The winner of the primary will face three Independent candidates in the general election later this year.
More Kootenai County information can be found here.
The Bonneville County Commissioner District 1 race currently shows two Republicans filed – Doyle H. Beck and Karl T. Casperson. The winner in that primary will face Democratic write-in candidate Jan Brown in the general election.
For Commissioner District 3 seat in Bonneville County, the filings show four Republicans facing off in the primary. The winner will face a Democrat challenger in November.
Bonneville County Sheriff shows only Republican Samuel Hulse running. He is unopposed and will win the position.
In the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney race, Republicans John Malek and Randy Neal will face off in the primary election. It will be winner take all, as there is no one else filed to run for that office.
Additional Bonneville County election information is found here.
Many of the other Idaho counties did not post their election filings on their websites. Find out what your county is doing by visiting these sites:
https://www.idaho.gov/counties/
Find Your County Clerk | VoteIdaho.Gov
Tags: 2024 General Election, 2024 Primary Election, Ada County, Blaine County, Bonneville County, Canyon County, Constitution Party, County Commissioner, County Prosecuting Attorney, County Sheriff, Democrat, Idaho, Independent, Kootenai County, Libertarian, Republican
Ada County Sheriff’s Race Summarized: “Two Democrats” run against the only “Constitution Sheriff” candidate Doug Traubel.
We’ll go with Doug on this one.
The biggest problem we have is that Republicans are not conservatives and do not support conservative values while hiding their beliefs like Rona McDaniel recently admitted to.
We need true conservatives to step up and lead, to maintain the moral compass of the state, to be honest, to listen and follow what the people, and most of all prevent liberal agendas at any cost.
Several true conservatives are running–we need to get out and back them!
You mean like Mike Simpson?
Canyon County Sheriff Donahue needs to retire. MR. Donahue has become a Politician and not a Local Sheriff. He spends most of his time dedicated to the National Sheriffs Association, while his department is on auto pilot. Canyon County needs a Full Time Local Sheriff not a Executive member of a National Lobbyist Organization that is 81 Yrs. Old.
Idaho conservatives desperately need to become better informed. The number of RINO’s they elect and re-elect every year is distressing, to say the least.
An excellent source of information can be found at limitedgov.org . That search address will open a page at the Institute for Legislative Analysis. Their purpose is to apply a mathematical formula to voting records to uncover true political leanings. A score of 0 to 50 indicates a liberal, 51 to 100, a conservative.
Brad Little scores a 42.53, a RINO (democrat in R’s clothing) if ever there was. We are getting the government we deserve. A fine example would be the picture of the Republican governors standing with Abbott in Texas. Brad Little amongst them, as he quietly fly’s illegal aliens into Idaho under cover of night.
Hey Nez Perce ! Lori McCann scores a 40 !! Wake up, Lewiston !!
Other Idaho Republican government representatives also score on the democrat’s side. Wake up, Idaho. Look them up. Throw them out!
Regarding Canyon County Commissioner, Seat 1, I think there’s an opportunity to elect a proactive and truly conservative leader: Theresa Denham. Theresa walks the walk, and lives out conservative values, every day, and has been championing conservative values for decades, speaking truth to power. Theresa staunchly supports 2A gun owners’ rights and actively exercises her 2A freedoms. Theresa believes wholly in Freedom of Speech and has actively coached many residents on how to make their voices heard at local P&Z, commission, and council levels. Theresa has championed Medical Freedom for decades–she ran a non-profit that helped patients get access to doctors and medicines they needed, even when medical bureaucrats tried to block them. When she first arrived in Canyon County, she educated the Southwest District Health at that time and facilitated them removing mask mandates and rejecting vaccine mandates. Theresa has been outspoken on Parental Rights–that parents have the last word on their children’s welfare. Theresa also believes that people in Canyon County moved here to enjoy rural surroundings–those same rural and agricultural surroundings that are threatened by reckless overdevelopment (that in some cases, sidestep Idaho law), and she has campaigned for multiple years to slow the growth and let infrastructure catch up.
The incumbent (Van Beek) is not a bad person, per se; however, if you look at her voting record, her campaign finance backers, resent legislation that she has supported (e.g. Dec 30, 2023 Canyon County policy changes), and her campaign FB page, you will not observe a person who’s outspoken about conservative values, specifically–all you’ll hear is the sound byte “conservative values”. The other opponent, Pam Wagoner, is a wildcard with very little observable community support or involvement (other than School Board involvement), but apparently is an avid golf enthusiast.
I’m voting for Theresa because it’s time for a leader in the Canyon County Commission who shares my values and is not afraid to stand up for residents. I’m not ready for 2 more years of watching our county go down the drain.
It is extremely difficult to find information about where some candidates stand on the issues. For instance, where can I find information about the candidates running for Bonneville County Commissioner District 3?
Trying to figure out the difference between “completely unopposed” vs. “unopposed” in the context of elections.