Final election countdown: Mickelsen and Golden vying for District 32 Seat A

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – For the second election in a row, Kelly Golden is facing incumbent Stephanie Mickelsen in the contest for Legislative District 32 Seat A.

Polls open Tuesday from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. across Eastern Idaho.

The two identified their top issues in the race.

Stephanie Mickelsen: “My top three issues would be one – affordability, two is education, and three is probably public safety or water.”

Kelly Golden: “To me, the top three major issues have been an economy that works for Idaho, immigration, and school choice – so educational freedom for parents.”

They also and shared their priorities on funding for education.

Stephanie Mickelsen: "I think we have to look at the funding formula for schools. Right now, we have a differential because they're paying online, private charter schools the same amount as they're paying our bricks-and-mortar schools. When bricks-and-mortar schools are having to pay for things like janitors and lunch ladies, and online schools don't have those same things, we need to have that reflected in the funding formula. We also need to make sure that we restore some of the funding to the colleges. The colleges like [College of] Eastern Idaho, for example, because we're creating huge backlogs."

Kelly Golden: "I'm for school choice and educational freedom. I'm a strong backer of House Bill 93. I believe that parents are the best suited to make those educational decisions for their kids. That and it's hard because to say I'm pro-school choice doesn't mean that I'm anti-teacher. I think there's some amazing teachers in all of our school districts, and they are doing everything they can with the resources that they're given."

Watch our in-depth interviews below for their contrasting views on illegal immigration enforcement, Medicaid expansion and more.

Stephanie Mickelsen election interview.

Kelly Golden election interview.