Ada County launched its candidate filing period Monday for several local offices appearing on the November 3, 2026 ballot, giving prospective candidates less than two weeks to submit their paperwork. The Ada County Clerk is accepting declarations of candidacy through 5:00 p.m. on August 28, with filing having opened at 8:00 a.m. on August 17. […]

Two competing sets of polling data are shaping dramatically different narratives in Idaho’s U.S. Senate race this fall, where Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican who has held the seat since 2009, faces an unusual challenge from Todd Achilles, a former state legislator running as an independent. Achilles, who previously served in the Idaho Legislature as […]

Idaho’s 1st Congressional District race is shaping up as a multi-candidate contest with sharply different visions for healthcare affordability and agricultural labor, as incumbent Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher heads into the November general election against three challengers: Democrat Kaylee Peterson, independent Sarah Zabel, and Constitution Party candidate Brendan Gomez. The district spans the Idaho panhandle […]

Idaho held its 2026 primary election on August 11-12, with results coming in as the national political landscape showed signs of a Democratic surge heading into the fall midterms. The Idaho contest took place amid a broader primary season that saw consequential races decided across several states. National Backdrop A CNN poll released around the […]

A campaign opposing a proposed abortion ballot measure in Idaho released its first television advertisement on August 6, targeting voters with claims that the measure goes further than its supporters have acknowledged. The ad, titled “Not What It Seems,” runs two minutes and was produced by Stop Prop 1, a campaign organized by the Too […]

Steve Johnson, a retired educator and longtime Bonner County farmer, formally entered the race for the District 1 Idaho Senate seat last week, launching his independent campaign at an event in Sandpoint on August 4. Johnson will face Republican nominee Scott Herndon in the November 3 general election. Running without party affiliation, Johnson is positioning […]

Independent candidate Todd Achilles has secured an endorsement from the Forward Party in his bid to unseat three-term Republican U.S. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, setting up what could be one of the more unusual Senate matchups in the state’s recent history. The race effectively narrowed to a two-man contest after Democrat David Roth withdrew […]

Idaho’s election system is facing federal legal scrutiny over voter data access while state officials highlight security measures they say make the state a model for election integrity — a dual reality playing out as the national debate over election law continues to intensify. Federal Lawsuit Over Voter Data The U.S. Department of Justice has […]

David Roth, an Idaho Falls consultant who won the Democratic primary in May, announced Tuesday he is abandoning his bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Jim Risch. The withdrawal ends a campaign that had faced sustained pressure from within Roth’s own party. A Campaign Squeezed From Both Sides Roth had been […]

The Republican field for Idaho’s 2026 special election congressional primary grew to ten candidates after Sanford formally entered the race, adding another contender to an already crowded contest for what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive intraparty battles the state has seen in recent memory. A Crowded Republican Field Sanford’s entry […]

An abortion-related ballot initiative will go before Idaho voters this November after supporters gathered a record-breaking number of signatures, setting up one of the state’s most consequential electoral fights in years. The Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act would establish a right to abortion before fetal viability and allow post-viability procedures to protect the health of […]

Ada County voters will have a say this November on whether to extend a long-standing vehicle registration fee that pumps roughly $14 million annually into road and bridge maintenance across the county, after the Ada County Highway District Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to place the measure on the general election ballot. A Fee With […]