Chanelle Torrez

Chanelle Torrez

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of Idaho

Elections and appointments

Next election

May 19, 2026

Education

High school

Caldwell Senior High School

Personal

Birthplace

Caldwell, ID

Religion

Atheist

Profession

Retail

Contact

Personal Facebook

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Chanelle Torrez (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of Idaho. She is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on May 19, 2026.

Torrez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Chanelle Torrez was born in Caldwell, Idaho. She earned a high school diploma from Caldwell Senior High School. Her career experience includes working in retail.

Elections

2026

See also: Idaho gubernatorial election, 2026

Idaho gubernatorial election, 2026 (May 19 Republican primary)

Idaho gubernatorial election, 2026 (May 19 Democratic primary)

General election

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of Idaho

John Stegner and Jacob Burnett are running in the general election for Governor of Idaho on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	John Stegner (Unaffiliated)
	Submit photo	Jacob Burnett (Independent) (Write-in)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tanner Basye (Independent)
• Ammon Bundy (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho

Maxine Durand, Terri Pickens, and Chanelle Torrez are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Idaho on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Maxine Durand
		Terri Pickens
	Submit photo	Chanelle Torrez

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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

• Stephen Heidt (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Idaho

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Idaho on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Brad Little
		Sean Crystal
	Submit photo	Mark Fitzpatrick
	Submit photo	Daniel Fowler
	Submit photo	Ethan Giles
	Submit photo	Ron James
	Submit photo	Jill Kirkham
		Lisa Marie
		Justin Plante

---

	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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jordan Chirat (R)
• Scott Hert (R)

Constitution primary election

Constitution primary for Governor of Idaho

Pro-Life is running in the Constitution primary for Governor of Idaho on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Pro-Life

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Governor of Idaho

Melissa Sue Robinson and Paul Sand are running in the Libertarian primary for Governor of Idaho on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Melissa Sue Robinson
		Paul Sand

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chanelle Torrez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Torrez's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Chanelle Torrez and I’m a born native from Caldwell Idaho. I want to run for freedom, Justice and reproductive rights. I believe in Idaho deserves better.

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’m all about empowering women and children to be free of the choices they deserve without government control.
• Child abuse and domestic violence should be a misdemeanor. I grew up in an abusive home with substance abuse.
• Allowing pet owners to keep their pets if they have a fenced yard or a leash. A fine for any cruelty and unsupervised animals off leash. I’m an owner of a German shepherd and animal safety is my concern.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Believing that the law should be fair. Serve Justice to victims of violence and community service / anger management for men with anger issues. Safety for women.

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

I look up to nobody because I didn’t have a role model growing up. My father was my best friend before he passed. I’m basically myself.

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

My life story growing up in an abusive home has been a journey I want to forget and live past it.

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

The power to make change and give people the Idaho they deserve. I want to see the freedom of families become generations. I’m passion about anything that Brad little isn’t.

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

Passionate, honest, hardworking, financially stable, I care about Idaho, trustworthy, independent, smart, strong.

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

Change to me is a core responsibility for Idahoans to feel and live safe in an open environment. Abuse is a big issue in Idaho.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I’m a second generation of a deceased immigrant with no children who would like to have some one day so I would like to be a leader to the next decade.

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

I got to see rascal flatts in a county fair at age 13-14. Never been to a sporting event.

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

Dollar tree at age 22 and it lasted for 3-6 months.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Twilight because I believe in happy endings.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Dorothy and Bella swan

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

Toby Keith courtesy of the red white and blue

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Abuse and trauma from family/relationships and a family death

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

Everything. Idaho deserves to be a new generation.

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

My responsibilities are always the same. Putting the people in Idaho first.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

Legalizing medical cannabis with a disability card for medical conditions.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The people is the ideal relationship between the two.

What do you love most about your state?

My state is strict, strong, hardworking and some care about crimes. It’s mainly independent but the climate is very bad.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Crimes and climate change.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Lol I have none.

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

None but anything crime related.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

31+ individuals

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I believe they are doing good so far

Do you support or oppose changes to the current state ballot initiative process? If so, what kind of changes would you consider?

I’m independent so I have no answer to support or oppose. I believe Idaho deserves to have a fair governor to run the next century. I am almost 30 and will want to run my campaign.

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean to you?

Everything. Freedom for the women and children, Justice for violence and abuse and safety is the reason I have to be here for

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.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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Footnotes

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