Republicans are poised to retain a supermajority in the Idaho Legislature

Idaho Republicans are poised to retain their legislative supermajority in 2023 after winning or leading in 86 of the state’s 105 legislative races in this year’s general election, according to partial, unofficial results released Wednesday morning by the Idaho Secretary of State’s office.

For the past two years, the GOP also controlled 86 of the Idaho Legislature’s 105 seats.

Assuming the results, the Idaho Senate will have 28 Republicans and seven Democrats in 2023, as has been the case for the past two years.

If the Idaho House results hold, Republicans would hold 58 seats compared to 12 for Democrats, as has been the case for the past two years.

Even before the single vote, Republicans were guaranteed to retain at least a simple majority in the Idaho Legislature because Democrats had not fielded candidates in dozens of races across the state.

There were some notable results on Tuesday.

• Republicans won the seat from Democrats in District 6, where former Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow. Unofficial election results released by the Idaho Secretary of State’s office showed Foreman receiving 9,518 votes in the race or 54% of the vote. Nelson won 7,555 votes or about 43% of the vote. Constitution Party candidate James Hartley rounded out the field with 369 votes or about 2% of the vote.
• Democrats picked up the legislative seat in West Boise’s tight District 15 Idaho Senate race. Unofficial election results show Democrat Rick Just, D-Boise, won with 9,193 votes, or 50%, against Republican Rep. Cody Galloway, R-Boise, who had 8,866 votes, or 48%. Constitution Party candidate Sarah Clendon also ran in that race, winning 413 votes, or about 2%. The seat was previously held by Republican Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise, who defeated Galloway in the GOP primary.
• Democrats retained all three seats in central Idaho’s District 26, which was reconfigured in the 2021 redistricting process. Democrats held all three District 26 seats, even though they defeated incumbent Republican Laurie Lickley, R-Jerome, who moved district-by-district from the old District 25. Moved to the 26th. Unofficial election results show that for the District 26 Idaho Senate race, Democrat Ron C. Taylor, D-Haley, won 7,246 votes, or 66%, compared to Lickley’s 3,743 votes, or 34%. Retiring Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum previously held the District 26 Idaho Senate seat.

Republicans have controlled supermajorities in both chambers of the Idaho Legislature since 1993. In 1991 and 1992, the balance of power in the Idaho Senate was evenly split with 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats each holding seats in the Idaho Senate prior to the number of seats. Fixed at 35 starting in 1993.

What to expect when the Idaho Legislature begins its 2023 session in January

Overall, the Idaho Legislature is undergoing sweeping changes in 2023. More than 40 of the 105 seats will be held by new legislators who have not served in the Idaho Legislature in 2022. The historic transaction is the result of a collision with the 2021 redistricting process. With the legislature retiring, 19 incumbent Republican legislators lost their seats to new Republican challengers in May’s primary election, and this week’s election saw some seats change hands.

That transaction would create major changes for the 2023 Idaho Legislature, where at least 11 of the 20 members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will be new, the Speaker of the Idaho House will be new for the first time in 10 years, and the House and Senate Health and Welfare Committees, Senate Education Committee, House Revenue, and Taxation Several important committee chairs will be new, including the committee and the House Judiciary Rules and Administration Committee.

Legislators will select new members of their leadership team, including the speaker of the Idaho House, who will then take committee assignments during the organizational session of the Idaho Legislature next month at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Idaho election results will not be official until the Idaho State Board of Canvassers conducts a canvass and verification of the election results. The deadline to meet with the Idaho State Board of Canvassers and verify election results is Nov. 23.

All Idaho legislators are elected for two-year terms. All 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature are up for election again in 2024, which is also a presidential election year.

The 2023 legislative session is scheduled to begin on Jan. 9 with Governor Brad Little’s State of the State address.

Idaho 2022 Legislative Races