Democratic governor candidates visit area
The candidates for Democratic governor and lieutenant governor are touring the area, making a stop in Blackfoot Wednesday evening to talk about the top issues affecting our state.
Both candidates are traveling all over Idaho to listen to what people are concerned about.
“Our campaign motto is ‘Work hard, tell the truth, put people first,'” said A.J. Balukoff, the Democratic candidate for governor.
Balukoff said he’s heard a major theme resonating with many of the folks he’s talked to on the campaign trail.
“Number one on most people’s minds is education and the state of our public schools,” he said. “Not only the K-12 schools, but also higher education.”
Balukoff said having served on the Boise School Board for 16 years has shown him something needs to change, and the current leaders aren’t changing it.
“Right now we’re on the bottom of nearly every measure of success in education,” Balukoff said. “That’s not good enough for Idaho.”
Lieutenant governor candidate Bert Marley also said education is the most important thing to focus on, not on which side of the aisle you sit.
“Hopefully we all want what’s best for our children, what’s best for the state, what’s best for our communities,” Marley said. “We’re all Idahoans at the end of the day.”
And while the turnout may not have been very large in the Blackfoot Senior Citizens Center, both candidates say that’s okay – they just hope folks listen to what the other side has to say and won’t just vote down party lines.
“It’s about everybody working together and we want people to stop and look at the issues, look at the candidates and not just say, ‘Oh, I always vote Republican,’ or ‘I always vote Democrat.’ We hope people will just stop and look,” said Marley.
The candidates also said other top concerns they’ve heard are the economy and campaign contributors getting special treatment by elected officials.
The candidates will be making several stops throughout the area to do more of these public forums.
You can find those dates by following this link: ajforidaho.com/events.
