Slate of 2024 primary candidates finalized

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

The Tuesday, May 21 primary will feature a crowded field of candidates, after the filing period to run for office closed March 15 and revealed contested races up and down the ballot from federal to legislative and local offices.

Four candidates are seeking the Congressional Dist. 1 House seat held by Republican Russ Fulcher, who is seeking reelection, including Democratic challenger Kaylee Peterson, as well as Brendan J. Gomez and Matt Loesby, of the Constitution and Libertarian parties, respectively.

Just as heavily contested — and more closely watched locally — will be the Legislative Dist. 1 Senate race, which will include incumbent Republican Scott Herndon versus Jim Woodward, marking their third GOP primary faceoff. 

Woodward defeated Herndon in the 2018 primary — going on to serve two two-year terms in the Senate and running unopposed in 2020 — until Herndon unseated him in the 2022 primary. That race featured a dramatic move by Steve Johnson, who dropped out of the House 1A race as a Democrat and rejoined the Senate contest as an independent write-in against Herndon in the general election, drawing more than 9,000 votes despite his name not appearing on the ballot.

This time around, Johnson has filed to run for the Senate seat as an independent, as well as Daniel Rose, a longtime and vocal member of the local Republican Party who has been publicly critical of Herndon’s leadership as the chair of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee. 

The Dist. 1A House seat currently held by Republican Mark Sauter is also being contested by both Democratic and Republican candidates. The May 21 GOP primary ballot will see Sauter versus Spencer Hutchings — the former treasurer of the BCRCC and a frequently high-profile attendee of Bonner County commissioner meetings — and Jane Sauter (no relation), who frames herself as “a family centered traditionalist.”

Democrat Karen Matthee is also seeking the Dist. 1A House seat, but does not face a primary challenger.

The race for the Dist. 1B House seat has drawn a number of candidates, following Republican Rep. Sage Dixon’s decision not to seek a fifth two-year term,

with contested primaries for both Democrats and Republicans: Bob Vickaryouse and Kathryn Larson from the Democrats and Chuck Lowman and Cornel Rasor from the Republicans.

Republican voters will also have a range of choices for the Dist. 1 and Dist. 3 Bonner County commissioner seats, especially in the wake of a particularly surprising last-minute development in local politics.

The race for the Dist. 1 BOCC seat will not feature an incumbent after Commissioner Steve Bradshaw declined to run for reelection but instead has thrown his hat in the ring to challenge five-term Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler in the GOP primary. 

Bradshaw and Wheeler have frequently butted heads in recent years over a range of issues, most notably the long-running turf war over property at the county fairgrounds and adjacent justice center.

With Bradshaw out of the commissioner race, Republicans James Burroughs, Brian Domke and Brian Riley have stepped up and will vie for a spot on the general election ballot in November. Meanwhile, Democrat Meghan Yeats has filed to seek the Dist. 1 BOCC seat and will advance unchallenged to the November election.

Finally, the Dist. 3 BOCC commissioner seat currently held by Luke Omodt — who is running for a second term — has drawn four challengers: Republicans Dimitry Borisov, Jeff L. Glass and Ron Korn, and independent Glenn Lefebvre, the latter who will only appear on the November ballot.

Borisov is an active member of the local Republican Central Committee and has made critical comments about Omodt’s leadership on the BOCC during business meetings. Korn is a well-known conservative activist who made his way into local headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic for organizing a Fourth of July parade after the Lions Club canceled the annual event out of an abundance of caution for public health.  

Candidates will have until Monday, March 29 to withdraw.

Below is the list of Dist. 1 federal and legislative candidates, as well as Bonner County office seekers, as of March 15. Go to voteidaho.gov for a full list of statewide candidates, and visit the Bonner County Elections page at bonnercountyid.gov for all other election-related information.

Dist. 1 U.S. House

Russ Fulcher, Republican (incumbent)

Brendan J. Gomez, Constitution Party

Matt Loesby, Libertarian Party

Kaylee Peterson, Democrat

Dist. 1 Idaho Senate

Scott Herndon, Republican (incumbent)

Steve Johnson, Independent

Daniel Rose, Independent

Jim Woodward, Republican

Dist. 1 Idaho House

Seat A, Karen Mathee, Democrat

Seat A, Jane Sauter, Republican (no relation to Mark Sauter)

Seat A, Mark Sauter, Republican (incumbent)

Seat A, Spencer Hutchings, Republican

Seat B, Kathryn Larson, Democrat

Seat B, Chuck Lowman, Republican 

Seat B, Cornel Rasor, Republican

Seat B, Bob Vickaryous, Democrat

Dist. 1 Bonner County commissioner

James Burroughs, Republican

Brian Domke, Republican

Brian Riley, Republican

Meghan Yeats, Democrat

Dist. 3 Bonner County commissioner

Dimitry Borisov, Republican

Jeff L. Glass, Republican

Ron Korn, Republican

Glenn Lefebvre, Independent (will only appear on the November ballot)

Luke Omodt, Republican (incumbent)

Bonner County prosecutor

Louis Marshall, Republican (incumbent)

Bonner County sheriff

Steve Bradshaw, Republican

Daryl Wheeler, Republican (incumbent)

Bonner County assessor

Dennis Engelhardt, Republican (incumbent)