Candidates file for LD1 Statehouse seats

Ballots will feature names familiar from past primary, general elections

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

With the filing deadline to seek office in the Tuesday, May 19 primary election passed, voters in Idaho Legislative Dist. 1 will have a full slate of candidates to choose from.

Every legislative seat in the state is up for election this cycle, as well as all constitutional offices and three of Idaho’s four congressional seats, with more than 1,200 candidates filing to run statewide as of March 5.

In LD1, all three incumbent legislators face challengers in the primary. Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, will face off with Scott Herndon, also of Sagle, in the GOP primary — the fourth time they’ve sought the same Senate seat since 2018.

Herndon, a homebuilder and current chair of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, lost to Woodward in all but one of those contests, when he secured a primary and general election win to serve a two-year term from 2023-2024. Woodward, a marine construction and excavation business owner and retired Navy commander, returned to defeat Herndon in that year’s primary, and is seeking a second consecutive term for 2026 (which would be his fourth term overall).

(L-R): Jim Woodward, Scott Herndon, Steve Johnson, Mark Sauter, Jane Sauter, Karen Matthee, Cornel Rasor, Chuck Lowman and Kathryn Larson. File photos

Woodward bested Herndon in the 2024 primary — which ended up being one of the most expensive primary races in recent memory, with both candidates raising in excess of $100,000 — by a relatively close margin of 51.94% to 48.06%, respectively.

Woodward serves as a co-chair on the Legislature’s powerful budget-setting Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, as well as on the Education Committee.

Steve Johnson, a Sagle resident who has sought several elected offices in recent years, filed to run for the LD1 Senate seat as an Independent.

A lifelong local resident with decades of experience as an educator and farmer, Johnson filed to run as a Democrat for the Dist. 1A House seat in 2022, then dropped out to re-register as an Independent write-in Senate candidate against Herndon. He again ran for Idaho Senate as an Independent in 2024, but withdrew to put his name on the ballot for Bonner County commissioner against Dist. 1 Commissioner Brian Domke, who ultimately prevailed at the polls.

As an Independent, Johnson will not appear on the primary ballot,, moving directly to the general election in November.

Other names on the ballot will be familiar to voters in LD1 — which encompasses most of Bonner County and all of Boundary County.

Two Republicans will vie for their party’s nomination for the House 1A position: incumbent Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, who is seeking a third term, and challenger Jane Sauter (no relation) in a repeat of their faceoff in 2024.

Mark Sauter, a longtime former fire services leader in California and North Idaho, won his last primary race by a handy margin of 49.8% against BCRCC-endorsed Jane Sauter’s 31.6% and fellow GOP challenger Spencer Hutchings.

Sauter serves on the Legislature’s Agricultural Affairs, Education, and Resources and Conservation committees.

Karen Matthee, a former journalist and nonprofit communications director who serves as the chair of the Bonner County Democrats, will again seek the House 1A seat under her party’s banner, following an unsuccessful general election bid in 2024, where she took 22.3% of the vote compared to Mark Sauter’s 77.7%. She will not face an opponent on the May primary ballot.

The House 1B race will also look familiar to voters who participated in the 2024 election, with incumbent Rep. Cornel Rasor, R-Sagle, again facing GOP challenger Chuck Lowman. Rasor, a lifelong resident, owner of the local Army Surplus and longtime figure in Idaho conservative politics, is running for a third term after his appointment by Gov. Brad Little to fill the vacancy left by Sage Dixon, who retired from office fewer than two months before the November 2024 election. He serves on the Legislature’s Business, Local Government, and Revenue and Taxation committees.

Prior to that, Rasor won the primary against Lowman with nearly 52% of the vote to just more than 48%, respectively. Lowman served as a U.S. Army chaplain before returning to Idaho, where he has worked as a biologist, pastor and business owner.

Finally, Kathryn Larson will repeat her 2024 challenge for the House 1B seat in 2026, though this time filing as an Independent. A strategy and management consultant with international experience and post-graduate work in education and organizational development, Larson previously sought the seat as a Democrat. She took 28.7% of the vote in that race against Rasor’s 71.3% in the general election.

The deadline to withdraw from the primary is Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m. (MT), which is also the deadline for write-in candidates to enter the race. Find all election-related info at run.voteidaho.gov.

Pick up future editions of the Sandpoint Reader for more candidate profiles and questionnaires heading into the May 19 primary.

Idaho Congress hopefuls in 2026?

Incumbent Republicans all facing primary challengers

By Kyle Pfannenstiel
Idaho Capital Sun

All members of Idaho’s congressional delegation who are up for reelection are running, and they are facing primary election challengers.

This year, three of Idaho’s four congressional seats are up for election — one seat in the U.S. Senate and both of its seats in the U.S. House.

First, candidates with a declared party will vie for the party’s bid in the Tuesday, May 19 primary election. Then, winners of the races will ultimately be determined in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election.

Only registered Republican voters can vote in Idaho’s closed GOP primary elections.

Here’s a look at who’s running to represent Idaho in Congress. Find the full list of candidates for all offices online in the Idaho Secretary of State Office’s candidate database.

The deadline to declare candidacy for Idaho’s federal, statewide and legislative offices was Feb. 27. Candidates have until 5 p.m. (MT) Friday, March 6 to withdraw their candidacy, or to declare their intent to be a write-in candidate.

U.S. Sen Jim Risch faces three Republican challengers

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, 82, is running for a fourth six-year term. The Republican was first elected to the seat in 2008 and now chairs the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He faces three Republican challengers in the May primary election: Denny LaVe, Joe Evans and Josh Roy.

Three candidates — David Roth, Brad Moore and Nickolas 007 Bonds — are running as Democrats. Roth has previously unsuccessfully run for an Idaho congressional seat.

Two candidates have filed independent bids for U.S. Senate: Natalie M. Fleming and Todd Achilles, who resigned in June 2025 from a state House of Representatives seat as a Democrat to challenge Risch.

Matt Loesby is the sole Libertarian Party candidate.

In announcing his reelection bid in an April 2025 post on X, Risch touted an endorsement from U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican serving his fifth term, is not yet up for reelection. His six-year term began in 2023.

U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher faces two Republican challengers

U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, 63, is running for a fifth two-year term. The Republican has represented Idaho’s 1st Congressional District since 2019.

He faces two Republican challengers in the May primary election: Joseph P. Morrison and Andy Briner.

Two candidates have filed Democratic bids for the U.S. House seat: Kenneth Brungardt and Kaylee Peterson, who unsuccessfully challenged Fulcher in 2022 and 2024. Sarah Zabel is running as the sole Independent candidate. Brendan J. Gomez is the sole Constitution Party candidate.

Idaho’s 1st Congressional District — home to roughly 1 million people — splits Ada County, includes some of Boise and spans the state’s western border through the Idaho panhandle in the north.

Since 2000, only one Democrat has been elected to represent the district, for one term. Fulcher did not face a Republican challenger in the 2024 primary election.

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson faces two Republican challengers

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, 75, is running for a 15th two-year term. The Republican has represented Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District since 1999 and chairs the House Interior and Environment Subcommittee on Appropriations.

He faces two Republi...

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