Idaho Republican primary election Tuesday included sheriff, commissioner and legislative races

James Hanlon, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

May 21—The Idaho Republican primary election was Tuesday. Results were reported too late for print, but will be updated online.

The key races included dozens of Republican committeeman positions that will determine control of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. A group of Republicans concerned about the direction of central committee, the North Idaho Republicans, has backed candidates for almost every precinct. Only five of the 73 precincts are uncontested. A 37-member majority could elect a new chairman.

Also on the ballot are county and legislative offices.

Mike Bauer ran against incumbent Bob Norris for Kootenai County sheriff.

Marc Eberlein, Dale Gibboney, Bat Masterson and John Padula all ran for Bill Brook's open county commissioner seat. Brett Surplus challenged chair Leslie Duncan for her commissioner seat.

In Bonner County, commissioner Steve Bradshaw gave up his seat to challenge incumbent Daryl Wheeler for sheriff. James Burroughs, Brian Domke and Brian Riley ran for Bradshaw's open seat. Chairman Luke Omodt ran for re-election against Dimitry Borisov and Ron Korn.

West Bonner School District asked voters for a one-year $4.6 million levy.

In Boundary County, with the retirement of Dave Kramer at the end of this term, Jon VanGesen, Dave Schuman and Travis Stolley ran for sheriff.

Among North Idaho legislative seats, districts 1, 4 and 5 had competitive races.

In District 1, which covers most of Boundary and Bonner counties, former state Sen. Jim Woodward challenged incumbent Sen. Scott Herndon's bid for re-election. For the Idaho House, Spencer Hutchings and Jane Sauter challenged incumbent Rep. Mark Sauter for seat 1A. Chuck Lowman ran against Cornel Rasor for 1B.

In District 4, which covers most of Coeur d'Alene, Dave Raglin challenged incumbent Rep. Elaine Price for House seat 4B.

And in District 5, which includes most of Post Falls and southwest Kootenai County, Cheri Zao challenged incumbent Sen. Carl Bjerke for the Senate seat.

James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.