Idaho
‘Every vote matters:’ Winner of Idaho’s closest legislative primary election won by 4 votes • Idaho Capital Sun
After winning the closest Idaho legislative primary election in years, Ben Fuhriman won’t let anyone tell him their vote doesn’t matter.
Following a free recount last month, Fuhriman was certified the winner of his primary election by four votes. Fuhriman is a Republican from the eastern Idaho town of Shelley. He defeated incumbent Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, in the Republican primary election for Idaho House Seat B in Legislative District 30.
“The underlying story is that here in Idaho we tend to think our votes don’t matter because we are such a red state, and we get complacent with voting, especially at the national level,” Fuhriman said in a phone interview. “But we forget how important local elections are.”
Young could not be reached for comment.
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Idaho legislative primary election result was so close it qualified for a free recount
Initial, unofficial election night results posted by the state late on the night of the May 21 primary election showed that Furhiman defeated Young by 10 votes.
But when the county clerks conducted their normal review of election results, they discovered a discrepancy of eight votes in Butte County that dropped Fuhriman’s victory down to two votes, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office said there was a discrepancy of eight votes when the data was entered into the state’s reporting system.
That two-vote margin was so close that it qualified for a free recount.
In an email message to her supporters on May 22, Young announced she would request a paid recount of the results because of how close the outcome was. But when the margin of victory dropped from 10 votes down to two, it meant the recount was free and Young didn’t have to pay. Under Idaho law, a losing candidate may request a free recount of the votes if the difference in votes between the candidates is within 0.1%, or five votes.
Young issued a news release on June 5 announcing that she was formally requesting a recount.
“We observed significant variations in the vote count during the election, with my opponent’s lead fluctuating from 10 votes to a two-vote margin days after the election,” Young wrote. “Such variations raise concerns about the accuracy of the current vote count. The voters of Idaho deserve to have full confidence in the accuracy and security of their elections. By requesting this recount, we are putting to rest any questions regarding the outcome of this election. This due diligence in regard to elections is consistent with the Republican values we all cherish.”
Fuhriman said he and Young have not spoken since the recount, which ran June 20 and June 21.
How did the primary election recount in Idaho work?
Legislative District 30 includes Butte and Bingham counties. The recount took place June 20 in Butte County and June 21 in Bingham County, Fuhriman said.
Both candidates and an assistant were allowed to be present and observe the recount in both counties. Representatives from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office and Idaho Secretary of State’s Office were also there, Fuhriman said.
Before the recount began in Butte County, Fuhriman said the ballots were brought in in a locked box that had been in the custody of the county sheriff.
“You could feel confident that nobody had messed with the ballots,” Fuhriman said.
Butte County counts ballots by hand. For the recount, elections officials and witnesses went through the ballots and again counted by hand, Fuhriman said. During the recount, one election official read the name of the candidate who received a vote on each ballot, while another election official watched the count to make sure the correct candidate’s name was called, Fuhriman said. Meanwhile, two other elections officials each record the count. The candidates and their assistants were allowed to watch the counts and keep their own tallies too, Fuhriman said.
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During the recount, Young received one fewer vote and Fuhriman received one more vote, bringing the difference to four votes.
In Bingham County, ballots are scanned and counted by machine. During the June 21 recount in Bingham County, officials conducted a small hand recount to test the machines and then scanned all of the ballots. The recount produced the exact same total as on the night of the primary election in Bingham County, Fuhriman and Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the Sun.
As a result, final results from the recount showed Fuhriman won 3,764 to 3,760.
Going through a razor-thin election and recount gave Fuhriman an unusually close view of election policies and procedures, he said.
“We have very secure elections; we have very good processes,” Fuhriman said. “With over 7,000 ballots in Bingham County, the recount produced the same results. That goes to show we are doing something right. People should feel comfortable and confident in Idaho elections. The process is fair, it’s secure and it’s safe.”
McGrane also said the recount demonstrates the safeguards built into Idaho elections. He said every step in the process worked as expected, from the routine county review of election results, to the recount. McGrane also said the election is an example of why the election results posted online on the night of the election are considered unofficial. Election results don’t become official in Idaho until after the county review and the results are certified by the State Board of Canvassers, which occurred June 5.
“The recount really put an exclamation point on the processes we put in place,” McGrane said. “It should give people confidence as we head into the November election, knowing we have gone through these audits and recounts, and it is a testament to the county clerks clear across the state.”
Have there been other close races and recounts in Idaho?
McGrane said in a July 2 interview that recounts are common in Idaho, even in legislative races. In smaller local municipal races, the outcomes are so close that there are recounts every year, McGrane added.
Here are just some of the close legislative races in recent memory.
- In the 2018 general election, a recount found that former Sen. Fred Martin defeated Democratic challenger Jim Bratnober by 11 votes in the District 15 Idaho Senate race, the Associated Press reported. Initially, election results showed Martin beating Bratnober by six votes.
- In the 2010 general election, current Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth defeated current Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking by seven votes in the District 18 Idaho House Seat A race, according to online state election results.
- In the 2004 Republican primary election for District 33 Idaho House Seat B race, former Rep. Russ Mathews incumbent Rep. Lee Gagnier by six votes, according to online state election results.
In the 1998 Republican primary election for District 14 Idaho House Seat A, current Speaker of the Idaho House Mike Moyle, R-Star, defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Bivens by 14 votes in the year Moyle was first elected to the Idaho Legislature, online election records show.
Idaho
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Pick 3, Pick 4 on April 19, 2026
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 19.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 9-5-1
Night: 8-0-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 2-7-0-3
Night: 4-3-3-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from April 19 drawing
15-28-31-38-45
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Idaho
‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS — Two prominent Idaho Statehouse reporters say this past legislative session was “unrelenting,” chaotic, largely driven by budget cuts, and they see the Legislature getting more powerful.
Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin recapped this past legislative session at a forum on the ISU Idaho Falls Campus on Thursday.
Richert is a senior reporter at Idaho Education News, with more than 30 years of experience covering education policy and politics. Corbin is a senior reporter at the Idaho Capital Sun who has covered every Idaho legislative session, gavel to gavel, since 2011.
The event was hosted by the City Club of Idaho Falls, which “exists to sponsor and promote civil dialogue and discourse on all matters of public interest” and strives to be “nonpartisan and nonsectarian,” according to its website.
Budget cuts
Both Richert and Corbin said this session was driven by budget cuts. Corbin said this was due to a lack of revenue stemming from past income tax and the adoption of new federal tax cuts.
“Cuts for almost every state agency and state department dominated the legislative session,” Corbin said. “We’re talking about 4% budget cuts for most state agencies and departments in the current fiscal year, and we’re talking about an additional 5% budget cuts for almost all state agencies and departments starting next year — fiscal year ’27 — and continuing permanently.”
RELATED | Gov. Little signs so-called ‘crappy bill’ to cut state budget
Richert said he thought higher education was taking the brunt of budget cuts. “It’s not a question of whether tuition fees are going to go up at the universities; it’s a question of how much,” he said.
When asked what the future would hold, Corbin said the budget cuts aren’t likely to go away, and their effects will be felt over time.
“There could always be a change of leadership in the House, but they do expect the budget crunch to continue in the next year’s legislative session,” Corbin said.
‘Radiator capping’
Richert said he has one word to describe this year’s legislative session: “unrelenting.”
One thing that made it feel that way was that some bills were recycled over and over, he said. For example, Richert said the Legislature saw five different versions of a bill that proposed cuts to the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance.
“We had multiple bills that came from the dead,” he said.
The journalists said this is partly due to a tactic called “radiator capping.” The term means to replace the entire car — the bill’s text, in political terms — while only keeping the radiator cap: the bill number. By rewriting a bill on the House or Senate floor while maintaining its number, failed bills can effectively bypass the committee process.
“Those are the changes they tried to make on immigration bills, on union bills this year,” Corbin said. “It made it extremely difficult for the public to have any idea what was going on, to have any opportunity to participate in the legislative process and share their opinions.
A more powerful, more chaotic Legislature
Richert said Idaho’s annual legislative sessions are trending longer, commonly going into the early part of April, and producing a record number of bills.
“There are rumblings that this Legislature, as a body, is wanting to expand its reach over more and have even more power over the other branches of government to the point of — are we trending towards more of a full-time professional legislature?” Richert said. “We’re a long way from there.”
“The legislative branch of government, particularly the Idaho House of Representatives, is the most powerful I’ve seen it in 16 years of covering state government,” Corbin said.
He added that this year’s legislative session was unlike any he’s experienced.
“The overall temperature in the building was bad,” Corbin said. “It was divisive. It was chaotic. People were not hiding their feelings of disgust for each other. These traditional ideas of decorum and respect very much fell by the wayside.”
Richert said Gov. Brad Little vetoed very few bills that came across his desk, and the ones he did weren’t high-profile.
RELATED | Idaho Gov. Brad Little issues 5 vetoes. Here are the bills affected
“I think the governor behaved like he was very concerned about the supermajority-controlled Legislature, and I think that that Legislature, in turn, asserted itself and took control of the agenda this year,” Corbin said.
Are legislators representing Idaho?
Corbin said some bills this year also focused on the LGBTQ+ community, such as a bathroom restriction for transgender individuals, and a bill that banned the City of Boise from waving a Pride flag.
RELATED | Idaho governor signs bill to criminalize trans people using bathrooms that align with their identity
RELATED | Boise removes LGBTQ+ pride flag as Idaho governor signs bill to fine city for its display
When asked if these were what Idahoans wanted, Corbin said it doesn’t necessarily appear so to him, based on his review of Boise State University’s annual public policy survey.
“For years and years, I’ve heard concerns about affordability of housing, access to housing, managing the growth of the state of Idaho, having quality public schools available for our young people — that also generates a workforce pipeline for some of our businesses,” Corbin said. “I’ve heard about paying for wildfires. I’ve heard about having good roads, supporting access to public lands, public recreation, those are the concerns I hear from Idahoans.”
“But the Legislature spent a significant amount of time over the last two, three, four years placing additional restrictions on LGBTQ communities, placing restrictions on what teachers can and cannot teach in their classrooms, what school boards can and cannot do,” Corbin continued. “They talked about requiring a moment of silence every day to begin the public school day, where children could pray or read the Bible.”
RELATED | Gov. Brad Little signs public school ‘moment of silence’ bill into law
Corbin said it may be his own opinion, but perhaps it is easier to “make a bunch of noise about what’s going wrong and (distract) people with social issues” rather than focus on harder issues that Idaho faces.
“I think what you saw on the policy space is a reflection of the fact that you had legislators thinking about reelection, and legislators with time on their hands — and that’s not always a good combination,” Richert said.
Accountability
When asked how people can keep legislators accountable, Corbin said it can be done by following the state Legislature through trusted news sources, going to community events and voting.
“This is a great year to practice accountability, because all 105 state legislators and all statewide elected officials are up for election this year,” he said.
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Idaho
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on April 18, 2026
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 18.
Winning Powerball numbers from April 18 drawing
24-25-39-46-61, Powerball: 01, Power Play: 5
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 18 drawing
Day: 9-5-1
Night: 0-2-4
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 18 drawing
Day: 4-6-0-4
Night: 9-9-8-2
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from April 18 drawing
18-21-22-32-42, Star Ball: 10, ASB: 03
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from April 18 drawing
08-19-22-31-44
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 18 drawing
17-19-47-48-55, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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