Voter Guide: Mandy Peace (D)
Party:
Democrat
- Website: https://www.peaceforidaho.com/
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Q: Tell us about your background, including your education, career experience, public service, and any previous political involvement. What experiences have best prepared you to serve in the Legislature?
I am a lifelong Idahoan, a proud wife, and a mother of two. My life is rooted in community service, guided by the belief that when neighbors face challenges, you roll up your sleeves and get to work. Growing up in Southeast Idaho, I learned the value of hard work and looking out for one another. That shaped my career in higher education finance and administration, where managing complex budgets taught me how to demand fiscal accountability and make every taxpayer dollar count.
Driven by a belief that every child deserves a safe place to thrive, I have spent years advocating for our children, including serving as a dedicated foster parent and working on nonprofit boards and city advisory committees. Wanting to preserve Idaho’s pristine public lands for our children, I deeply value our open spaces and outdoor heritage.
My commitment to public safety includes volunteering as a first responder with Bannock County Search and Rescue and South County Ambulance, and deploying to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with the Medical Reserve Corps and the American Red Cross. My background is built on direct service and practical problem-solving rather than career politics. Whether stepping up in an emergency or advocating for our children, my approach is simple: show up, listen, put in the work, and deliver real results for Idaho families.
Q: If elected, what would be your highest legislative priority, and what specific policies or actions would you pursue to address it?
My highest legislative priority is defending public education and lowering everyday costs for working families in Southeast Idaho. Public schools are the economic anchors of our rural communities, yet Idaho continues to lag near the bottom in national classroom investment.
To address this, I would pursue policies that keep public tax dollars in public classrooms, fund our schools adequately, support competitive teacher pay, and fix crumbling rural school infrastructure. At the same time, we must reject taxpayer-funded private school voucher schemes that siphon vital resources away from our constitutionally mandated public system. By pairing strong public education funding with targeted relief on property taxes and everyday essentials, we can ease the financial squeeze on working families and secure a thriving future for our region.
Q: Many families are concerned about rising costs of fuel, housing, groceries, health care, and other essentials. What role should government play in addressing inflation and improving economic opportunities, and what specific steps would you support?
State government has a fundamental duty to address the affordability crisis, pricing working Idahoans out of their own communities. When property taxes skyrocket and families struggle to afford basic essentials, calling it a free market ignores reality.
The Idaho Legislature has direct tools to deliver relief. We must reform our regressive tax structure to shift the burden off working homeowners and families, invest aggressively in workforce housing infrastructure, and stop passing policies that inflate everyday expenses. The government should never use public policy or taxpayer dollars to hand out special favors or corporate welfare to well-connected out-of-state interests while ignoring working people. Instead, our State leaders must step in when regular families are drowning under economic pressures to level the playing field. My commitment is to put working families first, cut through the bureaucratic red tape driving up the cost of living, and deploy state resources responsibly so that if you work hard in Idaho, you can actually afford to live here.
Q: Immigration remains a major issue at both the state and federal levels. What is your position on immigration policy, and what role, if any, should state government play in addressing immigration-related concerns?
Immigration policy is primarily a federal responsibility, but its impacts are felt locally across our agricultural and rural economies in Southeast Idaho. While our farmers and food processors rely heavily on a stable workforce, our approach to public safety must remain rooted in trust and community policing.
Local law enforcement departments are here to protect and serve our neighborhoods. Forcing local officers to take on federal immigration enforcement undermines that core mission, straining local resources and adding unnecessary fear to communities all across our state. Public safety depends on trust between residents and peace officers, and community members should never hesitate to report a crime or call for help out of fear.
Rather than enacting costly state mandates that burden local departments, we should focus on practical economic stability, supporting our vital agricultural industries, and fostering safe, connected communities where every resident feels secure.
Q: Access, affordability, and workforce shortages continue to challenge the health care system. What do you see as the biggest health care issues facing residents, and what solutions would you advocate for?
The biggest healthcare challenges facing Southeast Idaho are severe workforce shortages, disappearing maternity care, and soaring costs that force families to choose between medical treatment and putting food on the table. In rural communities, losing local providers and struggling hospitals puts lives at risk.
To solve this, we must protect and expand healthcare access by supporting policies that recruit and retain doctors, nurses, and specialists in rural areas. We also need to defend reproductive healthcare rights and protect medical professionals from extreme, criminalizing laws that drive skilled providers out of our state. Healthcare decisions belong between a patient, their family, and their doctor, not politicians in Boise. I will advocate for practical, patient-first solutions that ensure every Idahoan can access quality care close to home.
Q: As lawmakers consider state budget priorities, what level of funding do you believe public schools should receive? What factors shape your position, and what outcomes would you hope to achieve?
Idaho's budget is a statement of our values, and right now, our investment in public education falls woefully short. We must dramatically increase funding for our public school system to move Idaho out of last place in national classroom spending.
My position is shaped by my professional background in education administration, and deeply informed by my lived experience as a parent, community advocate, and child welfare advocate. Having worked closely with vulnerable kids, I know firsthand the desperate need to prioritize specialized support for students with special needs and children navigating the foster care system, ensuring they have the specialized resources and trauma-informed environments required to thrive.
We need to fully fund our classrooms, update outdated funding formulas to account for rural school districts, special education, and foster youth support, and provide competitive compensation to retain qualified teachers. We must also eliminate private school voucher schemes that drain money from public schools. Achieving these goals means our children will have safe, modern schools and the high-quality education they deserve, building a self-reliant and prosperous workforce for Idaho's future.
Q: Looking at the most recent legislative session, what do you think lawmakers got right, what did they get wrong, and what changes would you advocate if elected?
Lawmakers got it wrong by continuing to prioritize partisan wedge issues, corporate tax loopholes, and private school voucher schemes over the kitchen-table needs of everyday Idahoans, while neglecting our crumbling infrastructure and public school funding shortfalls. Where they fell short was failing to listen to local communities and working families.
What we need to get right is shifting our focus back to practical problem-solving. If elected, I would advocate for policies that invest directly in public education, safeguard our regional water supplies in true partnership with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, protect public land access, and provide meaningful economic relief to working homeowners. It is time to strip the partisan noise out of Boise and bring back a government that listens first and delivers real results.
Q: What is one issue that has not received enough attention during this campaign, and why do you believe voters should care about it?
Water security and long-term natural resource planning have not received nearly enough attention. Water is the lifeblood of eastern Idaho, and our historic drought conditions pose an immediate threat to our agricultural backbone, family farms, and rural communities in the Upper Snake River Basin.
Voters should care about this because our economic survival, food security, and quality of life depend entirely on reliable water resources. Managing crisis by crisis is no longer an option. We need proactive, science-driven solutions, including strict aquifer recharge programs, modernized infrastructure, and giving the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes a primary, sovereign seat at the table as equal leaders in shaping our regional water strategy. Protecting our water rights and securing our supply for generations to come must be a top priority from day one.
