Editor's note: This article has been corrected to indicate Christensen lost in Oneida County during the 2020 Republican primary election.
The battle to be District 35’s Republican nominee in the state House of Representatives showcases a divide the party is facing nationally and in Idaho. One candidate represents traditional Republican politics and the other represents a new-wave and far-right approach to policy that the party has experienced in recent years.
Ammon City Council member Josh Wheeler is challenging Rep. Chad Christensen, R-Ammon, in the upcoming Republican primary election. Christensen was the District 32B representative for each of the previous two terms, but following redistricting, is running for the District 35B seat.
Wheeler, 45, said he entered the race because he is determined to be an option for District 35 voters so he could better solve issues residents in eastern Idaho are facing with the record population growth it’s experiencing.
“Those challenges are going to take serious and focused leadership,” Wheeler said. “We’ve gotta have strong conservative Republicans in the Statehouse that will work together.’
Christensen, 49, was first elected in 2018. The biggest issue for him in this race is ensuring a “real” conservative remains in office, he said.
“I’m a proven conservative. I feel like I’ve proven that over the last four years. I have a 99% score with the American Conservative Union,” Christensen said.
Christensen has often expressed on his Facebook page that he doesn’t believe Wheeler is a true conservative. He was critical of Wheeler expressing support for his daughter when she posted on social media that she voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and was critical of Wheeler using a Black Lives Matter banner on his Facebook profile page.
“I’m not trying to be mean to Josh or personally attack him, I’m just trying to show who he is politically,” Christensen said.
Wheeler said he’s trying his best for his campaign to stick to policy and where he disagrees with Christensen.
“It’s clearly just a strategy over and over for him to call people names. To say that people are RINOS (Republicans in name only) or not real Republicans and the truth of the matter is we’re just going to talk about what we’re going to do,” Wheeler said of his campaign.
Christensen acknowledged his behavior and campaign approach against Wheeler might put some voters off, but said he hopes people consider his overall body of work.
“If you have a personal problem with me, that’s fine — I won’t be offended,” Christensen said. “Look at my track record, look at how I am as a legislator and how I stand for freedom … I think it’s more important to elect people (based) on what they say they’re going to do and their principles.”
If re-elected, Christensen said he wants to continue to advocate against vaccine requirements in Idaho and was disappointed Gov. Brad Little vetoed a bill that would have made it illegal for most businesses to require employees to get a coronavirus vaccine due to government overreach concerns. He also said he was proud of helping advance a law that required public health districts to go through county commissioners before enacting public health orders, such as a mask requirement.
Christensen also wants another shot at advancing legislation that allows K-12 school employees to carry concealed firearms in schools.
“The point of this is not to have teachers shooting bad guys,” Christensen said. “The point of this is to have teachers armed that want to be armed and people will know they’re armed so they won’t even come into schools and shoot at kids because they’ll know guns will be inside.”
In 2018, the National Association of School Resource Officers published a news release that opposed arming teachers and school staff, citing reasons which included school staff don’t go through the same firearm training and mental preparation that law enforcement officers do to be prepared in an active shooter event.
Wheeler said he doesn’t believe Christensen is truly representing people in eastern Idaho and cares more about scoring well with special interest groups such as the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
“(Christensen) ignores or doesn’t consider how his votes affect those of us back home in eastern Idaho. He is an extremist,” Wheeler said. “I am a conservative Republican who believes in responsible fiscal policy, in the rule of law, in decency and decorum and in limited government.”
Wheeler’s goals if elected are to help push Idaho toward a comprehensive tax reform and help move forward bills that incentivize career and technical education, he said.
He also said he wouldn’t vote against police and national guard budgets while pointing out Christensen opposed funding for police, rural emergency services and the Idaho National Guard. Additionally, Wheeler wants to keep Idaho as one of the least regulated states.
“I think it’s important for businesses to make decisions for their customers and their employees because they know their area,” Wheeler said.
Redistricting could be another potential factor in this race. Wheeler said he’s confident redistricting could help a non-incumbent represent District 35 since Christensen has never won Bonneville County. He said while the district covers several counties and a large area in the state, these areas face many similar challenges like with the tourism industry and the rapid growth in eastern Idaho.
The district no longer includes Oneida and Franklin counties, the latter of which Christensen won convincingly in 2020 and the former he lost by 16 votes. The new District 35 now includes all of northeast Bonneville County rather than previously having some of the county be in District 34. Additionally, part of eastern Bannock County is included in the district.
Christensen said he didn’t feel redistricting was particularly unfair to him although he didn’t like losing Franklin County, which gave him about two-thirds of the vote in the 2020 primary. He said the parts of Bannock and Bonneville counties in District 35 could make up for the areas that he no longer represents.