Ada County commission incumbents win primary races; West Ada voters support schools

With all precincts reporting their election results, two Ada County Republican commissioners won their primary races early Wednesday morning.

Commissioner Ryan Davidson defeated challenger Clyde Dornier with 58.8% of the vote.

“I’m looking forward to the next two-year term, but first, we’ve gotta get past November,” Davidson said in a brief victory speech at the Idaho Republican Party’s election night event at Garden City’s Riverside Hotel. He celebrated his success in his first term “standing up to the COVID insanity,” noting that Republican candidates had not gathered at the hotel on election night since before the pandemic.

In the race for District 3, incumbent Commissioner Tom Dayley led the pack with 37.8% of the vote. Challenger Branden Durst secured 26.6%; Sharon Ullman had 20.2% and Heather Luther had 15.5%.

At about 22%, voter turnout was lower than projected in this election.

In both of their races, the incumbent commissioners managed to secure the lion’s share of campaign donations and endorsements. Both commissioner positions pay about $130,000 annually.

District 3 draws crowded field of challengers

In District 3, which reaches from the Canyon County line east to the Elmore County line and encompasses southern parts of Meridian and Boise, Dayley faced three challengers: Ullman, a former commissioner who served two terms from 2001-2003 and from 2009-2013; Durst, a former analyst for the far-right lobbying group Idaho Freedom Foundation, state legislator and school superintendent; and Luther, the county’s director of recording and, at 35, the youngest candidate in the race.

Much of the conversation in the race centered around a desire to cut back on the county’s spending, with candidates promising tax reductions and a willingness to “cut government.”

In his campaign for a second four-year term, Dayley, 80, positioned himself as an experienced government insider who has served at many levels of government and understands how they intersect with the private and nonprofit sectors. He received endorsements from Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford, the Treasure Valley Fraternal Order of Police, Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts, and all five Republican mayors in Ada County, according to his campaign Facebook page.

As of May 21, Dayley had secured over $50,000 in campaign contributions — far more than all his opponents combined, according to Idaho’s campaign contribution tracking website.

Ullman, 60, trailed Dayley in funding and raised about $7,500, all of which she donated to her own campaign. Active as a volunteer and advocate in the county since the 1990s, Ullman has been a vocal critic of the county’s “bloated bureaucracy.”

With about $5,500 in contributions, Durst, 44, ranked third in funding. In his campaign, he sought to set himself apart from establishment Republicans, whom he has called “weak” and “spineless.” He said as a commissioner, he planned to address what he called “Biden’s border crisis,” which he wrote in his entry to the Statesman’s Voter Guide had “turned every county into a border county.”

Durst made headlines for the three combative months he spent last year as superintendent of the West Bonner School District in Idaho’s Panhandle. He resigned after voters recalled two trustees who supported him and after the State Board of Education refused to let him receive an emergency certification to remain superintendent, saying he wasn’t qualified, the Statesman previously reported.

In February, Durst filed a notice with the state that he planned to sue the State Board of Education and the Idaho Department of Education for $1.25 million, Idaho EdNews reported.

Luther trailed the pack in funding, having raised only about $3,500.

Devin Gutierrez ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for the commissioner position.

In District 1, incumbent defeats political newcomer

In District 1, which represents mostly Boise, roughly north of Interstate 84 and east of Idaho 55, newcomer Dornier, 62, sought to unseat Davidson, 47, who ran for a second two-year term. Both candidates focused on cutting the budget.

Dornier, a business owner and regional chapter support consultant for Sigma Chi International Fraternity Headquarters, highlighted in his submission to the Statesman’s Voter Guide his business and consulting experience, which he framed as a plus for budget management. He positioned himself as a business-savvy outsider who could help make the “best decisions possible.”

“I am not a politician and I’m not looking for a lifelong job,” he wrote. “Throughout my career, I have used data, common sense and collaboration to bring the right people together” in leadership.

Davidson, 47, highlighted his “extensive” experience as the incumbent and focused on achievements during his time in office, such as cutting property taxes and finding a way to build a park at Expo Idaho using American Rescue Plan Act funds and “no local tax dollars,” according to his campaign website. He wrote that he serves as a “strong advocate for the little guy who needs a break.”

In recent weeks, Dornier’s campaign sought to bring public scrutiny over an alleged campaign finance violation by Davidson: the use of old campaign yard signs, which were paid for by a political action committee that is supporting Dornier in this election. Dornier’s campaign filed three complaints and published news releases in two weeks over the issue as, it alleged, Davidson failed to meet county deadlines to resolve the issue by removing the signs.

After the first complaint was filed, Davidson told the Statesman he was frustrated that Dornier’s campaign did not first approach him directly about its concerns, calling the complaints a “dirty campaign tactic.”

As of Tuesday, Davidson raised about $25,000 in campaign contributions, compared with Dornier’s approximately $20,000.

Jonathan Lashley ran unopposed for the same District 1 seat in the Democratic primary after his opponents, Preston Fischer and Graham Carter, dropped out of the race. (Fischer’s decision to quit was unofficial because he missed the March 29 deadline to drop out, so he still appeared on voters’ ballots.)

Mixed results for schools

There were two school district supplemental levies on the ballot in Ada County. West Ada’s levy passed easily, with 58.8% support. Kuna’s, however, was turned down with 55.3% of voters against it.

West Ada was running a $27.7 million, two-year levy that replaces an existing levy and would cover 152 teachers and 19 resource safety officers, according to Idaho EdNews.

Kuna was running a $10.6 million, two-year levy for staffing, operations and facility maintenance, EdNews reported.

Samuel O’Neal contributed reporting.

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