Idaho's candidate filing period starts Monday

Daily News, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho
·3 min read

Mar. 2—The top portion of this article was inadvertently omitted from Saturday's print edition because of a Daily News error. Here is the full article.

A two-week candidate filing period begins Monday for various state, federal and county political offices in Idaho and the deadline for voters to change their party affiliation is looming.

All 105 House and Senate positions in the Idaho Legislature are up for election this year. So are all local party precinct positions, several county positions and two of the state's four congressional seats.

Individuals interested in the legislative and precinct positions file their candidacy forms with the Idaho Secretary of State's Office. The county candidates file with their county clerk.

The filing period begins Monday morning and ends March 15 at 5 p.m.

People who are registered with one of the four political parties in Idaho and wish to switch parties and be eligible to vote in the primary of that party must do so by March 15.

There are four political parties in Idaho — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Constitution.

The Democrats hold an open primary where anyone can participate regardless of their affiliation. The Republican, Libertarian and Constitution parties hold closed primaries in which voters must be registered with the party to participate. The deadline to change parties and still be eligible to participate in that party's primary, with the exception of the Democrat Party, is March 15.

Because the Republican Party so dominates the state and the winners of its primary often cruise to victory in the fall, many people view it as the most important election in the cycle and choose to participate in it regardless of their political leanings.

Specific positions that are up for election in north central Idaho this year, with the names of the incumbents, include:

Federal

U.S. Representative, 1st Congressional District: Russ Fulcher

Idaho Legislature

District 2, Clearwater, Benewah, Shoshone and portions of Kootenai and Bonner counties: Sen. Phil Hart, Rep. Heather Scott, Rep. Dale Hawkins

District 6, Latah, Lewis and a portion of Nez Perce counties: Sen. Dan Foreman, Rep. Lori McCann, Rep. Brandon Mitchell

District 7, Idaho, Adams and a portion of Nez Perce counties: Sen. Cindy Carlson, Rep. Mike Kingsley, Rep. Charlie Shepherd

Clearwater County

County commissioner, District 1: Mike Ryann (2-year term)

County commissioner, District 2: Rick Miller (4-year term)

Prosecutor: E. Clayne Tyler

Sheriff: Chris Goetz

Idaho County

County commissioner, District 1: Skip Brandt (2-year term)

County commissioner, District 3: Denis Duman (4-year term)

Prosecutor: Kirk MacGregor

Sheriff: Doug Ulmer

Latah County

County commissioner, District 1: Kathie LaFortune (2-year term)

County commissioner, District 3: John Bohman (4-year term)

Prosecutor: Bill Thompson

Sheriff: Richard Skiles

Magistrate Court Judge: Megan Marshall

Lewis County

County commissioner, District 1: Greg Johnson (2-year)

County commissioner, District 3: Eric Hasselstrom (4-year)

Prosecutor: Zachary Pall

Sheriff: Jason Davis

Nez Perce County

County commissioner, District 1: Don Beck (2-year term)

County commissioner, District 3: Doug Zenner (4-year term)

Prosecutor: Justin Coleman

Sheriff: Bryce Scrimsher

Port commissioner, District 2: Joseph Anderson