Election Results, Caucus Results, and Ada County Reorganization
Hello Friends,
Two weeks of elections and voting to cover!
Primary Election Results
Our busy election week last week in Ada County started off with a bang on Tuesday at the Primaries! There is a lot to go over, but the highlights are here:
Jonathan Lashley, Shari Baber, Todd Achilles, and Ali Rabe all win their primaries!
It’s always exciting to have competition, conversation, and choices to make as Idaho Democrats, and it was an exciting Primary season. A big thank you to everyone who ran, and congratulations to Jonathan Lashely, Shari Baber, Todd Achilles, and Ali Rabe for coming out on top. If you were paying close attention to these primaries, you know that all of those races were wildly different, but the end result is the same- we have amazing candidates that we are super excited to support as we move into the General Election.
Check the election results in detail for yourself here: https://voteidaho.gov/election-results/
Here is a list of our incredible Ada County Democratic Candidates:
Ada County
Commissioner District 1: Jonathan Lashley
Commissioner District 3: Devin Gutierrez
County Prosecuting Attorney: Johnathan Baldauf
County Sheriff: Victor McCraw
District 10
Senate: Letishia Silva
House A: Nancy Parker
House B: Shana Tremaine
District 14
House B: Jo Daly
District 15
Senate: Rick Just
House A: Steve Berch
House B: Shari Baber
District 16
Senate: Ali Rabe
House A: Sonia Galaviz
House B: Todd Achilles
District 17
Senate: Carrie Semmelroth
House A: John L Gannon
House B: Megan Egbert
District 18
Senate: Janie Ward-Engelking
House A: Ilana Rubel
House B: Brooke Green
District 19
Senate: Melissa Wintrow
House A: Monica C. Church
House B: Chris Mathias
District 20
Senate: Andy Arriaga
House A: Isaiah Navarro
District 21
House A: Casey Hess
House B: Becky R. McKinstry
District 22
Senate: Dawn C. Pierce
House A: Loren Petty
House B: Glida Bothwell
District 23
Senate: Paul Morgan
House A: Don Harrington
House B: Julissa Melendez Castellanos
So many candidates! So much work to get done to give them their best shot in November!
There were a lot of moves happening in the Republican Primary as well on Tuesday. Read more about them here:
However, no matter what moves the Republicans are making, we just have one goal: to make as many of them as we can lose in November!
Caucus Results
That wasn’t even the end of voting news from last week in Idaho; we also held our Presidential Caucus last Thursday.
We didn’t want to go back to the Caucus system - in 2020, Idahoans enjoyed a Presidential Primary for the first time, and we all preferred it. More accessible, easier, and more secure, the Primary accomplished everything we needed. However, due to a poorly worded bill last year and no cooperation from the far Right to fix it, we were forced to hold a Caucus again instead.
However, we rose to the challenge. Changing our rules to make the Caucusing process easier, planning ahead, and working tirelessly, the Idaho Dems made the Caucus easy for us to run. What’s more, our amazing volunteers stepped up and worked hard to make sure we were ready for anything.
Joe Biden ran away with the nomination, winning 23 Delegates to the National Convention (to be elected from our Delegates at our State Convention in June!). Turnout in the Caucus was low, due to a number of factors, but we ran a smooth and accessible process. It turns out that allowing absentee voting, short voting times, and allowing press into the caucus locations didn’t make our lives harder in any way! If we have to run Caucuses again in the future, we’ve learned some valuable lessons, though most people agree that letting the state run elections is a whole lot better for everyone.
Read more here:
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/05/23/election-2024-biden-wins-idaho-democratic-partys-presidential-caucus/
Ada County Reorganization Meeting
The Ada County Dems held our “Reorganization” on Wednesday. After the Primary, all the elected Precinct Captains get together to elect the County and Legislative District Officer positions for the next two years. It was incredibly energizing to see so many Dems fired up and excited for working hard this year!
Thank you to all of our Precinct Captains. Precinct Captains form the basis of our organization, and working together, we host tons of Democratic events around the County, show up to big events like the Western Idaho Fair and Boise Pride, and knock on tens of thousands of doors every year.
I'd also like to give a special thank you to our outgoing Officers, Jerry Marcantonio, Tami Ryals, Destinie Hart, and Carol Richel, who handed down their elected positions yesterday. Thank you all for your work in those positions!
Thank you and congratulations to all our new elected officers! With 11 Legislative Districts in the bounds of Ada County, I won't list every elected official down to that level, but I want to give a special thank you to our Countywide Officers!
Our returning Chair, Erik Berg!
Our new West Vice Chair, Carol Richel!
Our returning State Committeewoman, Louise Seeley!
Our new State Committeeman, Mike Lydon!
Our new Treasurer, Aaron Swisher!
Our new Secretary, Elle Casner!
Thank you for stepping up to these big positions!
Thank you, Ada County Dems!
From left to right - Mike Lydon, Elle Casner, Carol Richel, Roberta D'Amico, Louise Seeley, Aaron Swisher, Erik Berg
Thanks for supporting local Democrats,
Lily Pannkuk,
Executive Director
Ada County Democrats