A Peak Insights poll placed U.S. Sen. Jim Risch at 49% and independent candidate Todd Achilles at 24%, while a separate Advanced Targeting survey produced a sharply different result. That poll put Achilles at 50% and Risch at 39% ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Bill Fay dismissed the Advanced Targeting findings, saying, “And it was all baloney.”

Candidate Backgrounds

Achilles, a former Idaho House member, is campaigning as an independent opposed to the two-party system. Fay described him as “an anti-two-party independent inspired by Nebraska’s Dan Osborn.”

Organizations backing Achilles include the American Federation of Teachers, Communications Workers of America, Idaho AFL-CIO, National Education Association and Conservation Voters for Idaho. He has also appeared at events involving Bernie Sanders.

During his time in the Idaho House, Achilles voted against mask mandates, parental-choice tax credits and teacher-union subsidies. His record also includes votes against public benefits for immigrants in the country illegally, taxpayer financing for gender-transition surgeries, and limits on public-library material considered obscene for children.

Late Campaign Record

Risch previously served Idaho as both governor and lieutenant governor. Idaho has not chosen a Democratic U.S. senator since 1974.

Risch is expected to focus on Achilles’s Idaho House voting record during the campaign’s final stretch. Achilles has proposed a mandatory retirement age of 72 for members of Congress.