Branden Durst

Branden Durst (Republican Party) is running for election to the Idaho State Senate to represent District 11. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Durst (Democratic Party) was a member of the Idaho State Senate, representing District 18. He assumed office on December 1, 2012. He left office on December 1, 2013.

Durst previously served in the Idaho House of Representatives, representing District 18A from 2006 to 2010.

Biography

Durst earned his B.S. in political science from Pacific Lutheran in 2003 and his M.S. from Boise State University in 2007. His professional experience includes working as a Research Analyst for Opinion Research Northwest, Policy Intern for the American Counseling Association and in the Consumer Protection Division for the Washington Attorney General's Office.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Durst served on the following committees:

Idaho committee assignments, 2013
• Agricultural Affairs
• Commerce and Human Resources
• Education

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Durst was a member of the following committees:

Idaho committee assignments, 2009
• Business
• Education
• Health and Welfare

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 11

Incumbent Camille Blaylock, Branden Durst, and Chris Trakel are running in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 11 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Camille Blaylock (R)
		Branden Durst (R)
		Chris Trakel (R)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

General election

General election for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Incumbent Tom E. Dayley defeated Devin Gutierrez in the general election for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tom E. Dayley (R)	58.6	147,303
	Devin Gutierrez (D)	41.4	104,188

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 251,491
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Devin Gutierrez advanced from the Democratic primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Devin Gutierrez	100.0	13,187

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,187
= 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

Jennifer Andrews-Kelley (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Incumbent Tom E. Dayley defeated Branden Durst, Sharon Ullman, and Heather Luther in the Republican primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3 on May 21, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tom E. Dayley	37.8	16,552
	Branden Durst	26.6	11,638
	Sharon Ullman	20.2	8,833
	Heather Luther	15.5	6,778

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,801
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Durst in this election.

2022

General election

General election for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

Debbie Critchfield defeated Terry Gilbert in the general election for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Debbie Critchfield (R)	69.8	404,549
	Terry Gilbert (D)	30.2	175,076

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 579,625
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

Terry Gilbert advanced from the Democratic primary for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Terry Gilbert	100.0	31,868

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,868
= 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 Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

Debbie Critchfield defeated Branden Durst and incumbent Sherri Ybarra in the Republican primary for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction on May 17, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Debbie Critchfield	39.7	105,070
	Branden Durst	33.8	89,451
	Sherri Ybarra	26.6	70,431

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 264,952
= 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.

2018

See also: Boise School District elections (2018)

General election

General election for Boise School District Board of Trustees At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Boise School District Board of Trustees At-large on September 4, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alicia Estey (Nonpartisan)	30.4	3,519
✔		Maria Greeley (Nonpartisan)	28.1	3,252
✔		Troy Rohn (Nonpartisan)	27.0	3,124
	Submit photo	Shari Fernandez (Nonpartisan)	7.0	810
		Branden Durst (Nonpartisan)	4.9	567
	Submit photo	James Tooman (Nonpartisan)	2.6	300

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,572
= 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.

2016

See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Washington House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 20, 2016.

Incumbent David Sawyer defeated Rick Thomas in the Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 general election.^[1]

Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David Sawyer Incumbent	59.28%	24,234
	Independent Republican	Rick Thomas	40.72%	16,646
Total Votes				40,880
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Incumbent David Sawyer and Rick Thomas defeated Branden Durst in the Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1 top two primary.^[2]^[3]

Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 Top Two Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David Sawyer Incumbent	41.00%	6,252
	Independent Republican	Rick Thomas	35.29%	5,381
	Democratic	Branden Durst	23.70%	3,614
Total Votes				15,247
Source: Washington Secretary of State

2012

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2012

Durst won election in the 2012 election for Idaho State Senate District 18. Durst defeated Matthew Duncan in the May 15 Democratic primary and defeated incumbent Mitch Toryanski (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[4]^[5]^[6]

**Idaho State Senate, District 18, General Election, 2012**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Branden J. Durst	53.5%	11,292
	Republican	Mitch Toryanski Incumbent	46.5%	9,796
Total Votes				21,088

**Idaho State Senate District 18 Democratic Primary, 2012**
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Branden J. Durst	77.1%	1,078
Matthew Duncan	22.9%	321
Total Votes		1,399

2010

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2010

Durst was a Democratic candidate for District 18 of the Idaho State Senate. He had no opposition in the May 25 primary. He lost to Mitch Toryanski in the general election on November 2, 2010.^[7]

2008

See also: Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Democrat Brandon Durst won re-election to the Idaho House of Representatives District 18A receiving 51.1% of the vote (9,653 votes), ahead of Republican Julie Ellsworth who received 48.9% of the vote (9,222 votes).^[8]

Idaho House of Representatives, District 18A (2008)
Candidates	Votes	Percent
Brandon Durst (D)	9,653	51.1%
Julie Ellsworth (R)	9,222	48.9%

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 23,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

You can ask Branden Durst to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing info@durstforidaho.com.

2024

Branden Durst did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Branden Durst did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Durst's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“

Education funding:

I support a "grand bargain" because I think it is the only way we will actually be able to have any success in an era of divided government. The my way or the highway approach hasn't work and will get us nowhere. Components to a grand bargain could include:

B&O tax reform
Lowering the threshold necessary to pass school levies
Raising the threshold necessary to pass new taxes
Requiring all tax incentives/exemptions to sunset and then be reviewed once every four years
Funding the Working Families Tax credit
Limited capital gains tax with an exemption for owner occupied real estate
Luxury use fees

Social service partnerships:

By leveraging the non-profit and faith based organizations already within our community, we can increase access to services, improve outcomes and reduce costs. Social service partnerships have been underutilized, but if given the opportunity to represent you in Olympia, I will make them a priority by:

Reducing governmental red tape
Increasing funding for grant programs
Creating a state office for social service partnerships to coordinate activities and provide accountability

Court reform:

Unfortunately, many political elites have their personal bank accounts and campaign accounts padded by those that benefit most from the status quo. They don't care about you or me. They may say all the right things, but their lack of action speaks volumes. They don't have any interest in seeing things change, but I do.

I support a variety of reforms, including:

Automatic reinstatement of voting rights for those that have completed all aspects of their sentence.
Release of all non-violent, first-time offenders into existing or new transitional and work-release programs.
Adoption of a state-level second chance Pell program for the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) program so that the formerly incarcerated can improve themselves and get back to being productive members of our community.
Creating a system where parents are treated equally in family law proceedings.
Requiring a mental health and substance abuse assessment within one week for all inmates with behavioral health illness history or manifesting symptoms of behavior health illness. If an inmate is found to have any behavioral health illnesses, then treatment will be provided.

Campaign finance reform:

American Politics is controlled and corrupted by money from special interests and the ultra wealthy. Unfortunately, politics here in Washington State aren't any different. In fact, some have said that the influence of money in politics is one the biggest threats to our form of government. Based upon my experience as a legislator, I completely agree.

We must get money out of politics so that regular people like you and me have a real voice. That is why I support an innovative publicly financed elections system.

While the Democratic incumbent's campaign is funded by payday lenders, debt collectors, slumlords, Big Pharma, tobacco companies and for profit education lobbyists, my campaign is funded by hardworking folks like you and me.^[9]

”

—Branden Durst, ^[10]

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.

Branden Durst campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction	Lost primary	$68,370	$68,981
2012	Idaho State Senate, District 18	Won	$35,873	N/A**
2010	Idaho State Senate, District 18	Lost	$46,734	N/A**
2008	Idaho State House, District 18A	Won	$31,653	N/A**
2006	Idaho State House, District 18A	Won	$10,420	N/A**
Grand total			$193,050	$68,981
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

Idaho Freedom Index

The Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative nonprofit organization, released its "Idaho Freedom Index" in 2013. The index was designed to show how Idaho legislators voted on the principles the foundation seeks to promote. It measured each state legislator based on how they voted on economic issues and on bills that created or eliminated government agencies, programs, and regulations. A higher score indicated that the legislator voted more in favor of the values supported by the organization.^[11] Durst received a score of 49 points in the 2013 index, ranking 8th out of 35 members of the Idaho State Senate that were evaluated for the study.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Idaho State Senate District 11

Personal

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mitch Toryanski (R)	Idaho State Senate District 18 2012–December 2013	Succeeded by Janie Ward-Engelking (D)
Preceded by '	Idaho House District 18A 2006–2010	Succeeded by Julie Ellsworth

[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)

[gresults16-1] Washington Secretary of State, "General Election Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016

[plist16-2] Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 23, 2016

[presults16-3] Washington Secretary of State, "August 2, 2016 Primary Results," accessed August 25, 2016

[4] Office of the Idaho Secretary of State, "List of All Candidate Declarations for 2012," accessed March 15, 2012

[5] Idaho Secretary of State Election Division, "May 15, 2012 Primary Election Results," accessed July 4, 2012

[6] Idaho Secretary of State – Elections Division, "November 6, 2012 General Election Results," accessed December 27, 2012

[7] Idaho Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed April 16, 2014

[8] Idaho Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed April 16, 2014

[quotedisclaimer-9] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[10] Vote Durst, "Issues," accessed July 11, 2016

[11] Idaho Freedom Foundation, "2013 Freedom Index," accessed August 19, 2013

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

	v • e State of Idaho Boise (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? \| Elections in 2025 \| How to vote \| How to run for office \| Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? \| U.S. President \| U.S. Congress \| Federal courts \| State executives \| State legislature \| State and local courts \| Counties \| Cities \| School districts \| Public policy

Branden Durst

Biography

Committee assignments

2013-2014

2009-2010

Elections

2026

General election

General election for Idaho State Senate District 11

Endorsements

2024

General election

General election for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ada County Board of Commissioners District 3

Endorsements

2022

General election

General election for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction

2018

General election

General election for Boise School District Board of Trustees At-large (3 seats)

2016

2012

2010

2008

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2024

2022

2016

Campaign finance summary

Scorecards

Idaho Freedom Index

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

SITE NAVIGATION