Brad Little

Brad Little (Republican Party) is the Governor of Idaho. He assumed office on January 7, 2019. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.

Little received a B.S. in agribusiness from the University of Idaho in 1977. He managed his family's farming and cattle operation businesses called Little Land and Livestock for thirty years. In 2009, he handed managerial duties of Little Land and Livestock to his son.^[1]

Little's political career began with an appointment to the Idaho State Senate in 2001. He remained in the Senate until he was appointed lieutenant governor of Idaho in 2009 to fill a vacancy caused by Jim Risch's (R) election to the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected as lieutenant governor in both 2010 and 2014.

Little was elected governor in 2018. In the primary election, he defeated then-U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador (R) 37.3%-32.6%. Business executive Tommy Ahlquist (R) finished third in the primary with 26.2%. In the general election, he defeated former state Rep. Paulette E. Jordan (D) 59.8%-38.2%. Little succeeded three-term Gov. Butch Otter (R).^[2]

Little defeated then-Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) in the 2022 gubernatorial primary 52.8%-32.2%. The two candidates disagreed over the state's responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including stay-at-home orders and vaccination and testing requirements. Twice, when Little left the state on official business, McGeachin used her powers as acting governor to issue executive orders. Little rescinded both orders. To read more about Little and McGeachin's conflicts, click here. Little defeated Stephen Heidt (D) in the general election 60.5%-20.3%.

In his 2024 state of the state address, Little identified funding for school facilities as his top priority for the legislative session. Little signed House Bill 521 on April 2, which allocated $2 billion in total funding across 10 years for school facility projects across the state. In a statement, Little said, "Together, we secured the largest-ever investment in school facilities funding in state history while giving families back more of their hard-earned money with property and income tax relief."^[3]

Little's profile on the Idaho GOP website said he was a lifelong conservative. On that same profile, Little said his top issue was: "[T]o make Idaho the best place to live, do business, and raise a family." He listed his second priority as "working with law enforcement and communities in new ways to fight the influence of Mexico drug cartels in our state." His third priority was to continue "cutting red tape in the years ahead."^[4]

Biography

Little was born on February 15, 1954, in Emmett, Idaho. He received a B.S. in agribusiness from the University of Idaho in 1977. He managed his family's farming and cattle operation businesses called Little Land and Livestock for thirty years, before handing managerial duties to his son, David, in 2009.^[1]

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) appointed Little to fill a state senate vacancy in 2001. He served in the senate until Gov. Butch Otter (R) appointed him to replace Jim Risch (R) as lieutenant governor in 2009, a position he occupied until becoming governor in 2019.^[5]

Political career

Below is a list of offices within Ballotpedia’s scope. Offices outside of that scope will not be listed. If an update is needed and the office is within our scope, please contact us.

Little's political career includes the following offices:

Elections

2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Governor of Idaho

The following candidates are running in the general election for Governor of Idaho on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Brad Little (R)
		Stephen Heidt (D)
		Terri Pickens Manweiler (D)
	Submit photo	Chanelle Torrez (D)
	Submit photo	Jordan Chirat (R)
		Lisa Marie (R)
		Ammon Bundy (Independent)
	Submit photo	Maxine Durand (Independent)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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2022

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Idaho on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Brad Little (R)	60.5	358,598
	Stephen Heidt (D)	20.3	120,160
	Ammon Bundy (Independent)	17.2	101,835
	Paul Sand (L)	1.1	6,714
	Chantyrose Davison (Constitution Party)	0.9	5,250
	Lisa Marie (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	46

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 592,603
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Robert Dempsey (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Stephen Heidt defeated Shelby Rognstad and David Reilly in the Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho on May 17, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Stephen Heidt	78.8	25,088
	Shelby Rognstad (Write-in)	21.2	6,736
	David Reilly (Write-in)	0.1	21

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,845
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Melissa Sue Robinson (D)
Bob Dempsay (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Idaho on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Little	52.8	148,843
		Janice McGeachin	32.2	90,857
		Ed Humphreys	11.0	30,878
		Steven Bradshaw	1.9	5,470
		Ashley Jackson	1.1	3,172
		Lisa Marie	0.4	1,120
	Submit photo	Ben Cannady	0.3	804
	Submit photo	Cody Usabel	0.2	680

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 281,824
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Chris Hammond (R)
Jeff Cotton (R)

Constitution primary election

Constitution primary for Governor of Idaho

Chantyrose Davison defeated Ryan Cole in the Constitution primary for Governor of Idaho on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chantyrose Davison	61.9	346
	Submit photo	Ryan Cole (Write-in)	3.9	22
		Other/Write-in votes	34.2	191

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 559
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Idaho

Paul Sand defeated John Dionne Jr. in the Libertarian primary for Governor of Idaho on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Sand	60.2	427
	Submit photo	John Dionne Jr.	39.8	282

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 709
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

Brad Little defeated Paulette Jordan, Bev Boeck, and Walter Bayes in the general election for Governor of Idaho on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Little (R)	59.8	361,661
		Paulette Jordan (D)	38.2	231,081
	Submit photo	Bev Boeck (L)	1.1	6,551
	Submit photo	Walter Bayes (Constitution Party)	1.0	5,787
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	51

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 605,131
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Paulette Jordan defeated A.J. Balukoff and Peter Dill in the Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho on May 15, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Paulette Jordan	58.4	38,505
	A.J. Balukoff	40.1	26,423
	Peter Dill	1.4	954

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 65,882
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Idaho on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Little	37.3	72,548
		Raúl Labrador	32.6	63,478
	Submit photo	Tommy Ahlquist	26.2	51,008
		Lisa Marie	1.7	3,397
		Steven Pankey	1.4	2,704
		Harley Brown	0.4	874
	Submit photo	Ben Cannady	0.3	527

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 194,536
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Click [show] to view polling for this election.

Polls

Idaho Governor, 2018
Poll	Brad Little (R)	Paulette Jordan (D)	Third-party candidate	Unsure	Margin of error	Sample size

Idaho Voices for Change Now (July 12-15, 2018)	38%	28%	7%	26%	+/-2.77	1,061
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2014

See also: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2014

Little ran for re-election in 2014.^[6] He won the Republican nomination in the primary election on May 20, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Results

Primary election

Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Brad Little Incumbent	66.8%	96,780
Jim Chmelik	33.2%	48,099
Total Votes		144,879
Election results via Idaho Secretary of State.

General election

Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brad Little Incumbent	62.8%	271,268
	Democratic	Bert Marley	32.9%	141,917
	Constitution	David Hartigan	4.3%	18,705
Total Votes				431,890
Election results via Idaho Secretary of State

2010

See also: Idaho lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010 and Lieutenant Governor elections, 2010

Little ran for re-election in 2010. He defeated Eldon Wallace (D) and Paul Venable (C) in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Idaho Lieutenant Governor, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brad Little Incumbent	67.8%	299,979
	Democratic	Eldon Wallace	27.2%	120,174
	Constitution	Paul Venable	5%	22,007
Total Votes				442,160
Election results via Idaho Secretary of State

Endorsements

Little received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

President Donald Trump (R)

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

Brad Little has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Brad Little asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Brad Little, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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You can ask Brad Little to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing brad@bradlittleforidaho.com.

2022

Brad Little did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Brad Little campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Governor of Idaho	Won general	$2,381,243	$2,134,184
2010	Lieutenant Governor of Idaho	Won	$432,718	N/A**
2008	Idaho State Senate District 11	Won	$37,650	N/A**
2006	Idaho State Senate District 11	Won	$14,178	N/A**
2004	Idaho State Senate District 11	Won	$38,610	N/A**
2002	Idaho State Senate District 11	Won	$15,690	N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Little lives in Emmett, Idaho, and is married to Teresa Soulen. They have two adult sons.^[7]

External links

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Candidate

Governor of Idaho

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Officeholder

Governor of Idaho

Personal

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Butch Otter (R)	Governor of Idaho 2019-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Lieutenant Governor of Idaho 2009-2019	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Idaho State Senate 2001-2009	Succeeded by -

[pdt-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Phi Delta Theta Fraternity Museum, "Brad Little," accessed May 31, 2021

[2] Idaho State Journal, "Little defeats Jordan for governor after long, hard-fought campaign," November 6, 2018

[3] Idaho Statesman, "Gov. Little’s ‘priority No. 1’ comes to fruition: Idaho funding for school facilities," March 31, 2024

[4] Idaho GOP, "Brad Little," accessed July 25, 2024

[bradbio-5] Idaho Office of the Governor, "About Governor Brad Little," accessed May 31, 2021

[reelec14-6] Brad Little for Lieutenant Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "News: Announcement Speech," September 18, 2013

[bio-7] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bio

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Brad Little

Biography

Political career

Elections

2026

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

2022

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Constitution primary election

Constitution primary for Governor of Idaho

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Idaho

2018

General election

General election for Governor of Idaho

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

Polls

2014

Results

Primary election

General election

2010

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2022

Campaign finance summary

Personal

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

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