Candidate for Idaho governor wraps up 97-city tour

One of the candidates for Idaho governor was in the Eastern Idaho Wednesday. Republican candidate Tommy Ahlquist made a stop in Pocatello Wednesday morning and in Idaho Falls in the afternoon.

Ahlquist just wrapped up his 97-city tour around the state. He did it in 75 days and held 296 meetings with mayors, city councils, school superintendents, parents and teachers. KIDK Eyewitness News anchor Todd Kunz asked him if there was any common theme he heard from it all.

“One is our kids are not really ready for the businesses that are there, so how do we keep Idaho kids ready for Idaho jobs? How do we get them ready and how do we keep them in our state? They are most recent resource and a lot of times they leave and don’t come back. So really matching up our kids with our jobs was big everywhere I went. Companies saying we need these kids ready to work and then kids and families saying how do we get our kids ready? How do we bridge that gap? And then health care costs. Health care premiums for businesses around the state are just skyrocketing. I heard that from every business owner and then when you sit with families and say how are you doing? They’ll say it’s health care costs. So I think those were the two common things, and jobs,” said Ahlquist.

His next stop was Twin Falls Wednesday night.

He is a former ER doctor and currently a small business owner from the Treasure Valley. Alhquist said he wants be known as the “small business governor.”

He and his wife have four children.