Three hotly-contested races to watch from Thursday’s Legislative Debate

Editor’s Note: The second candidate in the video was unintentionally misidentified. He is Chad Christensen - Legislative District 35 Seat A Candidate.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Six candidates squared off during a second round of Legislative debates Thursday, organized with the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber.

With less than three weeks until the May 19 primary elections, three races in District 33 and 35 are drawing significant attention. 

Mike Veile: “My highest priority is education. Education is our future. I am very interested in moving education to that next step - taking our public education, innovating it, figuring out how we can solve some of our challenges around special needs and behavioral issues. We live in Idaho for our public lands. Our public lands need to remain public. ... Lastly, local control. I want to make sure that we're not pushing unfunded mandates down to our cities and our counties and our school districts and our sheriffs."

Chad Christensen:  "I served two terms in the House, and I enjoyed that thoroughly. I told my constituents when I ran for office that I would stand on the Constitution, freedom, limited  government, free market. And I went to Boise and did just that. I did what I said I was going to do. I have integrity. I didn't campaign over here as a conservative and go to Boise and do the opposite like so many do. When I was in Boise, you know, I was very outspoken against COVID mandates, you know, I stood up for that, stood up for God-given rights."

In the race for District 33 B in Idaho Falls, challenger Jilene Burger drew contrasts with incumbent Marco Erickson on issues such as Medicaid Expansion.

Marco Erickson: "I've done nothing but protect your ability to have your health care needs met through Medicaid, through Medicaid expansion. That's what our voters in Idaho Falls asked for, and that's why I was sent there. And I did that. I protected it year after year. I think people probably have no idea how many hours we have spent having conversations and having to have compromises to keep that stable."

Jilene Burger: "About the Medicaid expansion, I believe that as the 'voice of the taxpayer,' we need to cut spending in the Legislature. Fred Birnbaum has said that there’s not a revenue problem, there’s a spending problem. Since I know that the budget has increased 60 percent over the last six years, and it's increasing every session. That's unsustainable, we cannot keep that kind of spending."

In a closely-watched race, incumbent Barbara Ehardt and Idaho Falls Firefighter Connor Cook presented competing visions to voters in the race for District 33 Seat A. 

Connor Cook: "We're at a crossroads, as a state, and a true battle is being unfolded in front of us - a battle for the heart and soul of our state versus authoritarianism, the battle for true freedom or a ruse of freedom fed to you by freedom scores - Freedom Foundations that are stripping away our autonomy Legislative year after Legislative year. I want an Idaho where my stepson’s education is free of mandatory minutes of silence that we can't even articulate why it was enacted. I want him to have educators that feel empowered to challenge him to learn and grow."

Barbara Ehardt: "I've been a families first person. A lot of legislation I've done has been to protect our families and that means a lot of parental rights. … Protecting girls and women in sports was just heard at the Supreme Court - absolutely amazing. Centering and voting on things to absolutely reduce your property taxes - and not just property, all of your taxes. And then finally, let’s just say, I absolutely support our energy, the INL, hydropower and all things water."