Herndon, Rasor, Sauter win general election

Sweeping both the primary and general elections, Republicans will soon take their seat to represent Legislative District 1 in Boise.

Republican incumbent Cornel Rasor will be the only representative who gets to maintain his District 1B seat by defeating independent Kathryn Larson. Republicans Scott Herndon and Jane Sauter both bested their competitors, independent Steve Johnson and Democrat Karen Matthee, respectively.

At the state level, Governor Brad Little earned a third term, and GOP incumbents swept their races.

District 1 state races

Herndon has secured his spot back in the District 1 Senate seat, earning 11,193 votes, or 54.94% of the vote, over his opponent Steve Johnson, who gathered 9,179 votes, or 45.06% of the vote.

"We're here to serve everybody, and just bring a conservative view of governance, and we're going to find you a conservative solution to fix your problem, and that's what we're here for," Herndon said. "I was glad to see that overall Idaho literally came out exactly as I expected. My biggest effort, and the only thing I did in this general election, was to focus on defeating Prop One. We did that handily, and Bonner and Boundary County are very happy to see that, and that was pretty much the most significant accomplishment."

The duo faced each other for the same seat in 2022, when Herndon was first elected to the Senate seat. His win in this election will bring Herndon back into the seat, after Woodward beat him in the 2024 election.

In an email to the Bee, Johnson said he was appreciative of his "fantastic volunteers and supporters for their dedication, positive energy and tremendous faith." Johnson also congratulated his opponent and said he hopes Herndon will represent the multitude of voices in North Idaho.

"He has a responsibility to represent all of us. Individual freedom and responsibility transcend politics and ideology," Johnson said.

Sauter defeated the only Democratic candidate in the District 1 race, Karen Matthee, for the District 1A seat. This will mark Sauter's debut in public office. She received 13,051 votes, or 64.40% of the vote, while Matthee earned 7,214 votes, or 35.60% of the vote.

"I am very grateful to all of my volunteers for their faith and support in me. We did better than the first go-round, and I'm hoping for a younger, energetic candidate to come up behind me. No race should go uncontested," Matthee said in an email statement to the Bee. "Getting our message out there matters."

Matthee ran for the same seat in the 2024 election but was unsuccessful in the 2024 primaries.

Rasor was the only incumbent in the Legislative District 1 races, succeeding his opponent Kathryn Larson by earning 12,498 votes, or 61.47% of the vote. Larson received 7,833 votes, or 38.53%. Rasor will serve his second term in the District 1B seat.

"I'm not going to run for office again, but I will be involved with the community. ... I want my community to be strong and to thrive, and I want the money to circulate here," Larson said. "We need to decide what kind of community we want here, and what we want North Idaho to be, and start to push for that rather than just reacting to what we're spoon-fed by political parties."

In an email to The Bee, Rasor said he was grateful to the voters of Bonner and Boundary counties, and that he plans to do his best to represent District 1 through reading legislation thoughtfully so as to limit government overreach and the financial burden to the younger generations in the district.

Other statewide races

Bonner County voted heavily in favor of current Governor Brad Little, with only three precincts favoring his democratic opponent, Terri Pickens — Humbird, Washington and Beach precincts.

Little bested his competitors with 15,283 votes from Bonner County residents, or 64.97% of the vote. Pickens received 5,813 votes, or 24.71%. Other candidates made up approximately 9% of the vote.

In Boundary County, Little swept the majority vote throughout all the precincts, earning 73.09% of the vote, or 4,039 votes. Pickens trailed with 797 votes, or 14.42% of the vote. Other candidates made up approximately 12% of the vote.

Little has been elected to serve his third term as Idaho's governor.

Incumbent Scott Bedke secured his seat for the lieutenant governor's race over democratic opponent Eric Myricks, with Bonner County residents giving Bedke 16,335 votes, or 70.69% of the vote. Myricks received 29.31% of the vote, or 6,774 votes.

Boundary County residents awarded Bedke 4,417 votes, or 81.46% of the vote, and Myricks with 1,005 votes, or 18.54% of the vote.

Phil McGrane secured his seat in both Bonner and Boundary counties to remain Idaho's Secretary of State. He defeated democratic opponent Shawn Keenan with 16,738 Bonner County votes, or 72.50% of the vote, and 4,527 Boundary County votes, or 82.53% of the vote.

Keenan received 6,348 votes, or 27.50% of the vote, from Bonner County voters and 958 votes, or 17.47% of the vote, from Boundary County voters.

The state controller race received similar votes across both counties, with voters heavily favoring incumbent Brandon D. Woolf over his opponent, Democrat Rakesh Mohan. In Bonner County, Woolf was awarded 16,780 votes, or 72.95% of the vote. Mohan received 6,221 votes, or 27.05% of the vote.

Boundary County voters gave Woolf 4,541 votes, or 83.15% of the vote, and Mohan 920 votes, or 16.85% of the vote.

Incumbent State Treasurer Julie A. Ellsworth succeeded her opponent, Democrat Kevin A. Jones, with Bonner and Boundary counties voting more favorable of Ellsworth than the state's overall votes. Ellsworth received 16,547 votes, or 72.22% of votes from Bonner County voters, and 4,456 votes, or 81.69% of the vote, from Boundary County voters.

Jones earned 6,366 votes, or 27.78% of the vote, from Bonner County voters, and 999 votes, or 18.31% of the vote, from Boundary County voters.

Raul R. Labrador secured his second term as the Attorney General for Idaho, defeating Democrat Lori Hickman. In Bonner County, Labrador was awarded 15,990 votes, or 68.62% of the vote, and 4,391 votes, or 79.79% of the vote, from Boundary County voters. Hickman received 7,312 votes, or 31.38% of the vote, from Bonner County voters and 1,112 votes, or 20.21% of the vote, from Boundary County voters.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield held her position during the election, defeating Democrat Becky Sundin Mitchell and Constitutionalist Teresa Roundy. Critchfield was awarded the majority vote in both Bonner and Boundary counties, with 15,677 and 4,290 votes, respectively.

Mitchell received 6,424 votes, 28.14% of the vote, from Bonner County and 940 votes, or 17.28% of the vote, from Boundary County. Roundy received less than 4% of the vote from both counties.

Federal races

The races for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative District 1 mirrored similar results, with Republican incumbents Jim Risch and Russ Fulcher leading the vote by approximately 65% in Bonner County and approximately 75% in Boundary County.

Risch surpassed his opponents, independents Todd Achilles and Natalie M. Fleming, and Libertarian Matt Loesby, with 15,260 votes from Bonner County voters, or 64.49% of the vote, for the U.S. Senate seat. Achilles accounted for 27.43% of the vote, or 6,471 votes; Fleming accounted for 5.79% of the vote, or 1,365 votes; and Loesby accounted for 2.09% of the vote, or 494 votes.

In Boundary County, Risch received 75.43% of the vote, or 4,173 votes. Boundary County voters gave 919 votes, or 16.61% of the vote, to Achilles, 305 votes, or 5.51% of the vote, to Fleming, and 135, or 2.44% of the vote, to Loesby.

Fulcher won the U.S. Representative District 1 seat with 15,558 votes, or 65.95% of the vote, beating Democrat Kaylee Peterson, independent Sarah Zabel and Constitutionalist Brendan J. Gomez.

Peterson earned 26.63% of the vote, or 6,281 votes; Zabel earned 6.63% of the vote, or 1,564 votes; and Gomez earned .79% of the vote, or 186 votes.

Boundary County voters gave Fulcher 4,244 votes, or 76.15% of the vote; Peterson 866 votes, or 15.54% of the vote; Zabel 417 votes, or 7.48% of the vote; and Gomez 46 votes, or .83% of the vote.

Herndon, Rasor, Sauter win general election

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