District 31: State budget-writer faces rematch with ‘traditional-values’ former lawmaker

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 31, 2026

By: Sean Dolan

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of candidate profiles Idaho Education News will publish ahead of the May 19 primary election. We’re highlighting competitive races impacting education policy. Click here to see our Elections webpage featuring a list of all candidates and much more. Click here to see your voter information. Follow our elections blog for breaking news and insights.

RIGBY, Idaho — Voters in District 31 will settle a debate in May.

Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, and former legislator Karey Hanks both claim they best represent the interests of citizens in Fremont, Clark, Jefferson and Lemhi counties.

“I’ve watched my opponent’s voting record and his votes do not reflect our values in East Idaho and in District 31,” Hanks told EdNews.

But Furniss, a Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee member seeking a fifth term in House Seat B, said Hanks’ voting record is more aligned with the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

“She pretty well follows their suggestions to the tee,” Furniss told EdNews. “I don’t. I vote for the constituents.”

The two have history.

Hanks was first elected to the Legislature in 2016, and Furniss won his first term in 2018 when he beat her in the primary.

They were both elected in 2020 in District 31. Hanks represented House Seat A and Furniss represented House Seat B.

They voted similarly on social issue bills — both supporting a bill to ban critical race theory in public schools — but often had different views on budget bills. Hanks said she voted against budgets if she felt there were enhancements beyond what was necessary.

After they served together for one term, Hanks lost primary elections in 2022 and 2024, when she faced Furniss for a second time.

Now, the two will let voters decide who is the true representative of their interests.

School facilities funding has been a big issue in District 31, home to Salmon School District.

Voters in Salmon shot down 12 bonds before approving a $20 million bond in 2024 to replace a crumbling building. 

Furniss over the past couple of years has worked to make it easier for districts to pass bonds and find funding to build schools.

Idaho has one of the toughest thresholds in the country to pass bonds, a 66.7% supermajority. Furniss said that makes it very difficult for districts to build schools. Six districts ran bonds last year. They all failed.

In 2024, Furniss proposed a House joint resolution to lower that threshold to 55% in election years with statewide races. It didn’t get traction in the Legislature.

Furniss continued working on school facilities funding the next year. He supported a bill that created a $50 million fund for rural school funding. Districts could submit applications based on need. After the bill passed, a state panel approved $9 million for Salmon.

“This bill helped those smaller schools,” Furniss said. “If we have surpluses, we should probably put some more money in that to make sure our small schools are taken care of.”

Furniss has also focused on increasing child care options in Idaho. Last year he co-sponsored HB 243 to deregulate child care and allow facilities to set their staff-to-child ratios. It passed.

He said child care is a crucial part of Idaho growth.

“Some of the larger child care facilities didn’t really like that bill,” Furniss said. “But at the end of the day, it allowed more [parents] to enter into the business and have children in their home, so that we can have more child care.”

Furniss last year opposed HB 93, which created the $50 million Parental Choice Tax Credit.

He said there is no accountability in the quality of education that private schools have to provide and he doesn’t like that it is a tax credit.

“I’m opposed to how we set that up. I want to be able to regulate it. I want to be able to see it. I want to be able to account for the money,” he said.

On social issues like the transgender bathroom bill the Legislature passed last week, Furniss said he opposes any male using a female restroom and is opposed to any male playing female sports.

“I really have strong feelings that way, and I feel for the people that have that condition,” Furniss said. “I believe it’s a real condition, but I just also want to protect those young girls, or even any girl or any woman, from having to have that situation.”

When EdNews asked Furniss which bathroom Nikson Mathews should use, a bearded transgender man who testified against the bill, Furniss asked if he has “male parts or woman parts.”

“You tell me what he has and I’ll tell you what bathroom he goes in,” he said.

Furniss said he wants Idaho to remain Idaho.

“I want it to be a place where my children can raise their children with the same values that I had,” he said.

Hanks, the mother of seven children and 19 grandchildren, said she has a vested interest in preserving Idaho’s traditional values, such as parental rights and gun rights.

“I love Idaho the way it is, and we have outside interests that are trying to influence and change us into a Washington-, an Oregon- or a California-type state,” Hanks said. “We’ve got to stand up and nip these things in the bud and say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.'”

Hanks said she is focused on being responsive to her constituents and helping people. While in office, she said she participated in parades, hosted booths, attended events and responded to emails, texts and phone calls.

She drives a school bus, helps out on the family farm, serves in her church, served in the Boy Scouts and started the Fremont County Patriots to keep residents informed on issues.

On school choice, Hanks said she’s noticed that not all children fit the public school model. She homeschooled five of her kids for at least one year and said parents should be able to make decisions for their kids without government interference.

“I feel that we need to focus on children and not necessarily systems,” she said.

Her campaign website says she wants to protect children from the “woke” agenda. In an interview, Hanks said teachers who have pride flags in their classrooms can subliminally promote an agenda that children don’t need to be exposed to.

Schools, she said, should focus on reading, writing and arithmetic.

“I know that there was some DEI-type agenda trickling in in some of our districts, and, you know, we just need to nip that in the bud,” she said. “We need to be teaching the basics to our kids.”

She’s also concerned about porn in libraries and said we must protect kids from sexual material at a young age. As kids get older, parents should be responsible for that. On the transgender bathroom issue, Hanks said she doesn’t want to go into a bathroom with a “biological male.”

“We’re being pushed and nudged into things that we never — five or 10 years ago — we never would have thought something like this would be an issue,” she said.

On the budget process, Hanks said she is glad the Legislature has shifted to the “maintenance” and “enhancements” process, where agency budgets are split into base spending and additional spending requests. She voted against three budget bills for the Idaho State Police, while Furniss voted in favor.

Hanks said she felt there was additional funding in those bills that she didn’t think was necessary, but she supports law enforcement and appreciates what they do.

The two legislators in 2022 also voted differently on a massive omnibus bill during an extraordinary session in September. The bill, among other things, appropriated $410 million in ongoing education funding. Hanks opposed the bill.

When asked if she takes vote suggestions from the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Hanks said she does not. 

“I voted similarly to some of what the Idaho Freedom Foundation did, just because, you know, ‘Freedom Foundation,'” Hanks said. “They’re trying to promote lower budgets, things like that.”

Hanks said she has always tried to protect Idaho values and stand up for its citizens.

“My record shows that I serve the people of our district,” she said.