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Idaho's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Republican primary)

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Idaho's 2nd Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 11, 2022
Primary: May 17, 2022
General: November 8, 2022
How to vote
Poll times: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Idaho
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2022): R+14
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
See also
Idaho's 2nd Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd
Idaho elections, 2022
U.S. Congress elections, 2022
U.S. Senate elections, 2022
U.S. House elections, 2022

A Republican Party primary took place on May 17, 2022, in Idaho's 2nd Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate would run in the district's general election on November 8, 2022.

Incumbent Michael K. Simpson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Idaho District 2.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 11, 2022
May 17, 2022
November 8, 2022


A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Idaho, parties decide who may vote in their primaries. As of July 2025, the Democratic Party allows unaffiliated voters to vote in its primary, while the Republican Party only allows voters registered with its party to vote in its primary. Unaffiliated voters can choose to affiliate with a party on Election Day.[1][2][3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Idaho's 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

HOTP-GOP-Ad-1-Small.png

Candidates and election results

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Idaho District 2

Incumbent Michael K. Simpson defeated Bryan Smith, Flint Christensen, Chris Porter, and Daniel Algiers Lucas Levy in the Republican primary for U.S. House Idaho District 2 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael K. Simpson
Michael K. Simpson
 
54.6
 
67,177
Image of Bryan Smith
Bryan Smith
 
32.7
 
40,267
Image of Flint Christensen
Flint Christensen Candidate Connection
 
5.8
 
7,113
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Chris Porter
 
5.2
 
6,357
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Daniel Algiers Lucas Levy
 
1.8
 
2,185

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 123,099
Candidate Connection = 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.

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[4] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[5] Click here to view the reporting schedule for candidates for U.S. Congress in 2022.

U.S. Congress campaign reporting schedule, 2022
Report Close of books Filing deadline
Year-end 2021 12/31/2021 1/31/2022
April quarterly 3/31/2022 4/15/2022
July quarterly 6/30/2022 7/15/2022
October quarterly 9/30/2022 10/15/2022
Pre-general 10/19/2022 10/27/2022
Post-general 11/28/2022 12/08/2022
Year-end 2022 12/31/2022 1/31/2023


Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Michael K. Simpson Republican Party $1,623,607 $1,661,520 $138,400 As of December 31, 2022
Flint Christensen Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Daniel Algiers Lucas Levy Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Chris Porter Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Bryan Smith Republican Party $897,465 $884,020 $13,445 As of December 31, 2022

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2022. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.


Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Idaho in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Idaho, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2022
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Idaho U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 500[6] $300.00 3/11/2022 Source
Idaho U.S. House Unaffiliated 500 N/A 9/1/2022 Source

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting.
  • Effect of redistricting - How districts in the state changed as a result of redistricting following the 2020 census.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2022 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Below was the map in use at the time of the election, enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle, compared to the map in place before the election.

Idaho District 2
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Idaho District 2
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.


Effect of redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Idaho after the 2020 census

The table below details the results of the 2020 presidential election in each district at the time of the 2022 election and its political predecessor district.[7] This data was compiled by Daily Kos Elections.[8]

2020 presidential results by Congressional district, Idaho
District 2022 district Political predecessor district
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Idaho's 1st 29.5% 67.7% 30.1% 67.1%
Idaho's 2nd 36.9% 59.8% 36.6% 60.1%

Competitiveness

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2022

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Idaho.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Idaho in 2022. Information below was calculated on March 28, 2022, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

In 2022, nine candidates—two Democrats, six Republicans, and one Libertarian—filed to run for Idaho's two U.S. House districts. That's 4.5 candidates per district, less than the 5.0 candidates per district in 2020 and 9.0 in 2018.

Both incumbents filed for re-election: Reps. Russ Fulcher (R) in District 1 and Michael Simpson (R) in District 2. The only primary that drew more than one candidate was in District 2, where Simpson was set to face four challengers as of the candidate filing deadline. Of those four challengers, one was Bryan Smith, who Simpson defeated 62-38% in the 2014 Republican primary. According to Roll Call's Nathan Gonzales, Republicans won 27 of the 28 U.S. House elections between 1994 and 2022.[9] Walt Minnick (D) won election to District 1 in 2008 and lost to Raul Labrador (R) after serving one term.

Presidential elections

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+14. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 14 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Idaho's 2nd the 92nd most Republican district nationally.[10]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Idaho's 2nd based on 2022 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
36.9% 59.8%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Idaho, 2020

Idaho presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 9 Democratic wins
  • 22 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party D R R D D R R R D D D D D R R R D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R


Demographics

The table below details demographic data in Idaho and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for Idaho
Idaho United States
Population 1,839,106 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 82,644 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 88.4% 70.4%
Black/African American 0.7% 12.6%
Asian 1.4% 5.6%
Native American 1.3% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.2%
Other (single race) 3.8% 5.1%
Multiple 4.3% 5.2%
Hispanic/Latino 12.7% 18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate 91.3% 88.5%
College graduation rate 28.7% 32.9%
Income
Median household income $58,915 $64,994
Persons below poverty level 11.9% 12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


State party control

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Idaho's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Idaho, November 2022
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 0 0
Republican 2 2 4
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 2 4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Idaho's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in Idaho, November 2022
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Brad Little
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Janice McGeachin
Secretary of State Republican Party Lawerence Denney
Attorney General Republican Party Lawrence Wasden

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Idaho State Legislature as of November 2022.

Idaho State Senate

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 7
     Republican Party 28
     Vacancies 0
Total 35

Idaho House of Representatives

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 12
     Republican Party 58
     Vacancies 0
Total 70

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, Idaho was a Republican trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Idaho Party Control: 1992-2022
No Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-eight years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Idaho Secretary of State's Office, "Primary Elections in Idaho," accessed July 2, 2025
  2. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed July 2, 2024
  3. ↑ ACLU Idaho, "2024 Your Rights as an Idaho Voter," accessed July 2, 2025
  4. ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  5. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  6. ↑ Petition signatures only required in lieu of a filing fee.
  7. ↑ Political predecessor districts are determined primarily based on incumbents and where each chose to seek re-election.
  8. ↑ Daily Kos Elections, "Daily Kos Elections 2020 presidential results by congressional district (old CDs vs. new CDs)," accessed May 12, 2022
  9. ↑ Roll Call, "Bleak streak for Idaho Democrats likely to continue," Feb. 28, 2022
  10. ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed February 6, 2023


Idaho's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Mike Crapo (R)
Jim Risch (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Republican Party (4)


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