Idaho
A look inside the big bucks and key players in Idaho's 2024 primary election spending – East Idaho News
(Idaho Capital Sun) — On May 21, Idahoans cast their ballots in one of the state’s most expensive primary elections.
According to campaign finance records as of May 21, Idaho legislative candidates raised more than $4.6 million to their campaigns, including individual reports of donations that exceed $1,000.
That is almost a million dollars more than what candidates had raised three weeks ago.
With all the money involved in Idaho politics, here is a breakdown of the top 10 candidates who ran for Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate who raised the most money during the primary election:
These PACS were the major players in Idaho’s primary election
In addition to the surge in campaign funds Idaho’s legislative candidates received, political action committees operating in Idaho, or PACS, spent nearly $3.5 million ahead of the primary election.
But two political action committees in particular stand out for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaign in favor of certain Republican candidates.
First, the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, a group based in North Idaho – spent nearly $400,000 campaigning in favor and against legislative candidates.
Below is a list of candidates the PAC spent money on to campaign in favor of and against:
Supported: Julianne Young, Glenneda Zuiderveld, Scott Herndon, Bryan Smith, Jacyn Gallagher, Brian Lenney, Cornel Rasor, Tammy Nichols, Chris Trakel, Lucas Cayler, Jarome Bell, Josh Keyser, Brenda Bourn, Tina Lambert, Clint Hostetler, Joshua Kohl, David Leavitt, Lyle Johnstone, Kally Schiffler, Kirk Jackson, James Lamborn, Karey Hanks, Kelly Golden, Brett Skidmore, Douglas Toomer, Elaine Price, Kyle Harris, Larry Dunn, Christy Zito, Rob Beiswenger, Faye Thompson, Brandon Shippy
Out of those the PAC supported, Young, Herndon, Smith, Gallagher, Trakel, Bell, Bourn, Lambert, Johnstone, Schiffler, Jackson, Lamborn, Hanks, Golden, Skidmore, Toomer, and Dunn lost their races.
Opposed: Mark Sauter, Lori McCann, Kenny Wroten, Julie Yamamoto
Out of those the PAC opposed, Wroten and Yamamoto lost their races.
According to its website, the Citizens Alliance of Idaho prioritizes the right to self defense, medical freedom and privacy, election integrity and education freedom.
Campaign finance records show the Idaho PAC received money from two entities: Citizens Alliance Political Action Committee Inc., a federal PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission; and Doyle Beck, an Idaho Falls resident who serves as a legislative district chair for the Bonneville County Republican Party and sits on the board of directors for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a far-right lobbying organization.
Beck donated $10,000 to the Idaho committee while the federal PAC donated $390,000 it.
No other donors to the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, besides Beck, came from Idaho. Records on the Federal Election Commission website show the remaining 25 donors of the federal version of the PAC came from Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Maine and California — giving amounts ranging from $500 to $100,000.
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The second PAC that stands out is the Idaho Federation for Children, which spent $303,000 of its funds on printing materials and media advertising to campaign in favor and against the following candidates:
Supported: Julie VanOrden, Wendy Horman, Chuck Winder, David Cannon
Opposed: Kenny Wroten, Melissa Durant, Richard Cheatum
VanOrden, Horman, Cannon and Cheatum won their races in the primary election, while Winder, Wroten and Durant lost their races. All of these candidates are incumbents.
According to the political committee’s website, its main issue revolves around school choice, or using public funds to subsidize private school tuition.
Despite its name, campaign finance records on the Idaho Secretary of State’s website show none of the committee’s money came from Idaho.
All $400,000 of the contributions the Idaho PAC received ahead of the primary came from the American Federation for Children’s Victory Fund, a Dallas-based national super PAC dedicated to spending money to support lawmakers in favor of using taxpayer dollars to support private education and to oppose those who don’t.
That amount is double what the federal PAC gave to the Idaho Federation for Children during the 2022 primary, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
According to campaign finance records on the Federal Election Commission website, some of the American Federation for Children’s Victory Fund’s top donors include Jeff Yass, a billionaire TikTok investor and the richest person in Pennsylvania; and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
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Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A simmering dispute between Idaho’s top elections official and the U.S. Department of Justice escalated this month after federal officials warned Secretary of State Phil McGrane about possible prosecution tied to non-citizens voting in Idaho.
The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month threatening McGrane with prosecution. The warning came amid a broader conflict between the Trump administration and McGrane, whom the administration has sued over his refusal to provide unredacted voter rolls to the federal government.
Idaho’s chief of civil litigation, James Craig, responded on July 10. In a letter first reported by the Idaho Statesman, Craig pushed back on the federal warning, writing, “Insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken,” and asking the department to “stop threatening your friends in Idaho.”
Craig also requested that the lawsuit against McGrane be dismissed and criticized the Justice Department for sending its letter directly to McGrane rather than to the Idaho attorney general’s office.
The attorney general’s office said the state has already referred 15 cases of possible non-citizen election violations to the Justice Department but is not aware of any of them being prosecuted. Craig’s letter ends by asking the department to do so.
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