Ben Toews

Ben Toews

Republican Party

Candidate, Idaho State Senate District 4

Idaho State Senate District 4

Tenure

2022 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

3

Predecessor: Mary Souza (R)

Compensation

Base salary

$25,000/year

Per diem

For legislators residing within 50 miles of the Capitol: $86/day. For legislators residing more than 50 miles from the Capitol: $253/day.

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Associates

North Idaho College, 1999

Bachelor's

Gonzaga University, 2002

Personal

Profession

Business executive

Contact

Official website

Official YouTube

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Personal TikTok

Ben Toews (Republican Party) is a member of the Idaho State Senate, representing District 4. He assumed office on December 1, 2022. His current term ends on December 1, 2026.

Toews (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the Idaho State Senate to represent District 4. He declared candidacy for the general election scheduled on November 3, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Ben Toews earned an associate degree in political science from North Idaho College in 1999 and a bachelor's degree in international business from Gonzaga University in 2002. Toews' career experience includes working as the director of international sales of Marshalltown, the president and CEO of Bullet Tools, and a forecaddie with Hagadone Hospitality Co.

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Toews was assigned to the following committees:

• Local Government and Taxation Committee
• Senate State Affairs Committee

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Idaho State Senate 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 Idaho State Senate District 4

Incumbent Ben Toews is running in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 4 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Ben Toews (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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2024

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Idaho State Senate District 4

Incumbent Ben Toews defeated Carissa Hober in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Toews (R)	66.3	15,844
	Submit photo	Carissa Hober (D)	33.7	8,049

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,893
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Idaho State Senate District 4

Carissa Hober advanced from the Democratic primary for Idaho State Senate District 4 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Carissa Hober	100.0	1,037

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 4

Incumbent Ben Toews advanced from the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 4 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Toews	100.0	5,374

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,374
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Toews in this election.

2022

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Idaho State Senate District 4

Ben Toews won election in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Toews (R)	100.0	12,332

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,332
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 4

Ben Toews defeated Tara Malek in the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 4 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Toews	59.7	4,702
	Submit photo	Tara Malek	40.3	3,176

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,878
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Paul Amador (R)

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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2024

Ben Toews did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Ben Toews 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.

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Ben Toews campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024	Idaho State Senate District 4	Won general	$56,320	$12,371
2022	Idaho State Senate District 4	Won general	$46,449	$45,379
Grand total			$102,769	$57,750
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Idaho

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Idaho scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 10. ACLU Idaho Legislators are scored on their stance on civil liberties issues. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues. Idaho Freedom Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Idaho Wildlife Federation Legislators are scored on how they voted on sportsman-related bills. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 9 to April 6. ACLU Idaho Legislators are scored on their stance on civil liberties issues. Idaho Freedom Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Idaho Wildlife Federation Legislators are scored on how they voted on sportsman-related bills. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. The Institute for Legislative Analysis Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

Idaho State Senate District 4

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Officeholder

Idaho State Senate District 4

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mary Souza (R)	Idaho State Senate District 4 2022-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Idaho State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Lori Den Hartog

Minority Leader:Melissa Wintrow

Senators

District 1

Jim Woodward (R)

District 2

Phil Hart (R)

District 3

Doug Okuniewicz (R)

District 4

Ben Toews (R)

District 5

Carl Bjerke (R)

District 6

Dan Foreman (R)

District 7

Cindy Carlson (R)

District 8

Christy Zito (R)

District 9

Brandon Shippy (R)

District 10

Tammy Nichols (R)

District 11

Camille Blaylock (R)

District 12

Ben Adams (R)

District 13

Brian Lenney (R)

District 14

C. Scott Grow (R)

District 15

Codi Galloway (R)

District 16

Alison Rabe (D)

District 17

Carrie Semmelroth (D)

District 18

Janie Ward-Engelking (D)

District 19

Melissa Wintrow (D)

District 20

Josh Keyser (R)

District 21

Treg Bernt (R)

District 22

Lori Den Hartog (R)

District 23

Todd Lakey (R)

District 24

Glenneda Zuiderveld (R)

District 25

Josh Kohl (R)

District 26

Ron Taylor (D)

District 27

Kelly Anthon (R)

District 28

Jim Guthrie (R)

District 29

James Ruchti (D)

District 30

Julie VanOrden (R)

District 31

Van Burtenshaw (R)

District 32

Kevin Cook (R)

District 33

David Lent (R)

District 34

Doug Ricks (R)

District 35

Mark Harris (R)

Republican Party (29)

Democratic Party (6)