Bill Rutherford

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Bill Rutherford

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1973

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1973 - 1977

Contact

Campaign website

Personal website

Bill Rutherford (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Ada County Board of Commissioners to represent District 2 in Idaho. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Rutherford completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Rutherford was a 2016 Democratic candidate for District 20 of the Idaho State Senate.

Biography

Rutherford received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1973. He served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1973 and 1977. He worked as a civil and structural engineer from 1978 to 2010. Rutherford has been associated with the Idaho SHIBA program.

Elections

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Ada County, Idaho (2020)

General election

General election for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2

Rod W. Beck defeated Bill Rutherford in the general election for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rod W. Beck (R)	53.9	133,799
		Bill Rutherford (D)	46.1	114,464

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 248,263
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2

Bill Rutherford advanced from the Democratic primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Rutherford	100.0	31,502

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 31,502
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2

Rod W. Beck defeated Mary McFarland, Teri Murrison, Kim Wickstrum, and Fred Rippee in the Republican primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 2 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rod W. Beck	47.9	20,165
	Submit photo	Mary McFarland	18.7	7,886
	Submit photo	Teri Murrison	18.5	7,777
	Submit photo	Kim Wickstrum	8.6	3,612
	Submit photo	Fred Rippee	6.4	2,683

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 42,123
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Patrick Malloy (R)

2016

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Idaho State Senate were held in 2016. The primary election took place on May 17, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.

Incumbent Chuck Winder defeated Bill Rutherford in the Idaho State Senate District 20 general election.

Idaho State Senate, District 20 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Chuck Winder Incumbent	67.88%	13,787
	Democratic	Bill Rutherford	32.12%	6,525
Total Votes				20,312
Source: Idaho Secretary of State

Incumbent Chuck Winder ran unopposed in the Idaho State Senate District 20 Republican primary.

Idaho State Senate District 20, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Chuck Winder Incumbent (unopposed)

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Bill Rutherford completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rutherford's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Meridian, ID - Bill Rutherford, Democratic Candidate for Ada County Commissioner in District 2, announces a campaign of facts and ideas, not money.

Political candidates routinely collect and spend thousands of dollars on their campaigns during the general election. Because of cost considerations, complex issues are reduced to one liners and slogans. Due to the pandemic public political activities will be curtailed this year. The opportunity to meet and discuss issues with voters in person will not be there.

Rutherford is announcing that he will not solicit nor accept Corporate PAC money for his election bid. Instead he will conduct a low-key, fact and data driven effort to outline the steps that he would take to understand and manage ADA County Government Operations. This would include what his approach would be to evaluating the County's priorities, budgets and plans.

Rutherford, age 68, is a retired engineer, business owner and veteran. During his career he planned and managed some of the largest construction projects and federal programs in the country with workforces of 5,000 and annual budgets of $450Million in 1995 dollars.

Rutherford will detail his experience and ideas on his website, billrutherford2020.com.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I have experience managing large organizations both in the public and private sector. I know how to manage cost, plan large scopes of work and follow through.

• I'm not accepting Corporate PAC campaign donations - I will be beholding to the public I'm elected to serve, not special interest groups.

• I believe in effective, timely and inclusive Decision Making as well as always striving to Negotiate for a Win/Win outcome.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Controlling Overhead Cost to ensure that the public funds we are spending are being spent wisely and benefitting our customers, the public.

Open/Transparent Government - our customers have a right to weigh in on what we are doing and let their opinions be taken seriously. We should make every effort to make this possible.

I like Management by Walking Around - I want to meet the public and our County employees in a relaxed setting and listen to their concerns. I would welcome the opportunity to do that.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The breadth of their services is important. They cover a wide variety of services from Emergency First Responders to Law Enforcement to the Judicial System. Its where we go for our Driver's license, Vehicle Registration and Voting.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I worked on building a Nuclear Power Station outside of Pittsburgh from 1981 to 1987 - I worked for a Project Manager named Hal Foley. He hired me to be his Chief Planner responsible for planning all the work at the site. We employed over 7,000 people/day at this site. Our annual budget in 1983 was approx $400M. He taught me the importance of being disciplined about managing money, getting the job done, checking the details and telling the owner's the truth about what was really going on with the Cost/Schedule issues.

Everything I applied later on in my professional life as a manager I learned from Hal. He was a great project manager and teacher.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I posting several articles on my website about what I think is important and my approach to addressing them.

Please visit billrutherford2020.com

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, Integrity and the ability to listen and learn.

Negotiate in good faith.
Be an effective communicator.
Work hard to understand the details.
Include others in Decision Making/Be Decisive when you have to be.

Serve the public - not special interest groups

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I care about giving something back to my community. I think that is primarily why I'm running for office. I believe my experience would benefit my community.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Manage the money well, provide excellent customer service, serve the public whose money you are managing.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember President Kennedy being assassinated on Nov 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas. I was in the 7th grade and our teacher told us the news. After that we all went home.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a 2nd Lt in the Army Corps of Engineers - Combat branch - I served stateside from 1973 to 1977 at Ft. Hood Texas and left the service in August of 1977 as a Captain.

What is your favorite book? Why?

A Simple Plan - I loved the movie even though it varied a little from the book - Its a great story about human nature and how what appears to be a simple plan can go terribly wrong.

Great look into the Unintended Consequences of life.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I don't know how to answer this - I have so many favorite songs

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

All the duties and services provided by ADA County are well documented on their website and they also issue a very comprehensive Annual Report also on their website.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

The annual budget for 2020 is $288M and the county employs approx 1900 people. This is a big business. I think it certainly helps to have that type of background so that it's not overwhelming to someone new.

Political experience alone doesn't really prepare someone to manage anything in my opinion except their campaign.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Negotiating, Decision-Making, Money Management, Strategic and Day to Day planning experience, good communication skills and Customer service experience.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Political philosophy

Rutherford made the following statement to Ballotpedia regarding his political philosophy:

“

Political Reform (campaign finance, women's rights, LGBT rights, restore ethics to office) Education - support teachers, manage public education funds responsibly, identify sources of money for public education Heath Care - support health care for Idaho citizens

”

See also

2020 Elections

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Suggest a link

• Campaign website