Incumbent US Rep. Mike Simpson wins Idaho Republican congressional primary, AP reports

Republican voters in Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District sent incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson to victory in Tuesday’s Republican primary election, granting him a chance to defend his seat in November’s general election.

The Associated Press called the race for Simpson against two Republican challengers at 10:07 p.m.

Simpson, 73, of Idaho Falls, seeks his 14th term dating to his first congressional election win in 1998. He faced GOP challengers Scott Cleveland, 62, of Garden City, and Sean Higgins, 40, of Boise, for the right to represent the Republican Party for the federal district that includes East Idaho and part of Boise.

“It’s always very rewarding to have your constituents support you and think that you’re doing a decent job,” Simpson said in a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday night from Washington, D.C.

With all of Idaho’s 44 counties reporting full results, Simpson won the contested race with 54.7% of votes counted. Cleveland placed second with 35.8%, and Higgins was third with 9.5% of votes.

Polls in the 26 Idaho counties that make up the 2nd Congressional District closed at 8 p.m. Mountain time. Results are expected to trickle in into Wednesday morning.

Should he win in November, Simpson said, he would make passing an agriculture-immigration reform bill and securing the U.S.-Mexico border his top priorities — working on them with whomever is the president.

“That is one of the biggest challenges facing every state in the country,” Simpson said of the southern border. “We’re all border states now, and, in fact, when we do polling on issues and stuff like that, even in Idaho, the southern border is the No. 1 issue.”

Simpson, a retired dentist by trade, held a wide advantage for the three Republican candidates in campaign fundraising and spending, according to his latest federal election filings.

Simpson reported more than $1 million in fundraising from January 2023 through April and spending of about $572,000. He had about $611,000 of cash still on hand for the general election, the election reports showed.

Among Simpson’s largest donors, he counts the Dairy Farmers of America, the sugar and mining industries, several Native American tribes and a handful of political action committees for health care and dental-related groups.

Cleveland, who was endorsed by the Bonneville County Republican Party over Simpson on the incumbent’s home turf, was second in fundraising. He reported more than $100,000 in contributions, including $50,000 in personal donations to his campaign, and about $84,000 in spending, the federal election reports showed.

Higgins reported about $5,400 in fundraising through April, including a $5,000 personal loan to his campaign. He spent $1,000 on his campaign over that time.

The winner of Tuesday night’s Republican primary advances to November’s general election to face David Roth, 43, of Idaho Falls, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. In early returns, he had received more than 17,200 Democratic votes.

Roth reported about $61,000 in fundraising toward the race from January 2023 through this April, according to federal election filings. His total haul to date is just a tenth of the cash Simpson still has available for the general election.

“He’s always going to outraise us, there’s no question about that,” Roth told the Statesman by phone Tuesday night from Idaho Falls. “As with everything, we’re going to win votes door by door, voter by voter and actually talk to people about the issues, and really that’s the only way that we can compete. He can simply buy votes; we’re simply going to have to earn them.”

Libertarian candidate Todd Corsetti counted 315 votes in early returns and, by four votes, candidate Idaho Law-Carta Sierra edged fellow Constitution Party contender Pro-Life, formerly known as Marvin Richardson, for the nomination.

Rematch set for 1st Congressional District

Meanwhile, polls in half of the 19 counties that make up Idaho’s 1st Congressional District closed at 9 p.m. Mountain time. But Tuesday’s winners weren’t in question.

Three-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, 62, of Meridian, ran unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary. As a result, he automatically advanced to November’s general election for the seat that represents western and North Idaho and the remainder of Ada County.

Fulcher, who remained in Washington for the primary, sent along a video for attendees at a Republican Party watch night event held Tuesday night in Garden City. In the message, he maligned the Democratic Party and its leader, President Joe Biden, and called for unity within the GOP.

“There’s never been a more stark distinction between the two major parties,” Fulcher said. “This is a fight, the fight of our lives, and we need each other.”

Fulcher’s leading opponent in November will be Democrat Kaylee Peterson, 34, of Eagle, who also ran unopposed Tuesday. Their head-to-head race is a rematch of the same congressional race in 2022. Last general election, Fulcher received 71% of votes to resoundingly defeat Peterson.

Fulcher had about 109,000 votes to Peterson’s nearly 14,000 in their separate primaries. Libertarian candidate Matt Loesby and Constitution Party candidate Brendan Gomez also earned several hundred votes each in Tuesday’s primary.

Fulcher reported nearly $400,000 in campaign fundraising from January 2023 through April and spending of about $276,000, according to his latest federal election filings.

Peterson raised about $83,000 and spent $63,000 on her campaign over the same period, she reported in her federal election filings.

Reporter Ian Max Stevenson contributed reporting.