Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2018
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 12
- Early voting: Oct. 22 - Nov. 2
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Voter ID: Photo ID required
- Poll times: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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| 2018 Idaho House elections | |
|---|---|
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| General | November 6, 2018 |
| Primary | May 15, 2018 |
| Past election results |
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| 2018 elections | |
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Republicans maintained their majority in the Idaho House of Representatives in the 2018 elections, winning 56 seats to Democrats' 14 seats. All 70 House seats were up for election in 2018. Heading into the election, Republicans held 59 seats and Democrats held 11.
Republicans maintained their trifecta in Idaho by holding the state House, the state Senate, and the governor's office.
Idaho state representatives serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years.
The Idaho House of Representatives was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. In 2017, three chambers in Virginia and New Jersey were up for election. In 2016, 86 out of 99 legislative chambers held elections. Prior to 2018, the Idaho House of Representatives last held elections in 2016.
For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
Post-election analysis
- See also: State legislative elections, 2018
The Republican Party maintained supermajority status in both chambers of the Idaho State Legislature in the 2018 election. In the state Senate, all 35 seats were up for election. The Republican Idaho State Senate supermajority was reduced from 29-6 to 28-7. Four Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary and one Republican incumbent was defeated in the general election.
The Idaho House of Representatives held elections for all 70 seats. The Republican supermajority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 59-11 to 56-14. Five Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary and four Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.
National background
On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.
- Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
- Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
- A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.
Want more information?
- Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
- 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
- 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
- 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities
Candidates
General election candidates
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
Write-in candidates
- Tony Ullrich (ind.), District 23-Position B
- Thomas Loertscher (ind.), District 32-Position B
- Ralph Mossman (ind.), District 32-Position B
Primary candidates
Margins of victory
A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 Idaho House of Representatives races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.
The table below presents the following figures for each party:
- Elections won
- Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
- Elections won without opposition
- Average margin of victory[1]
| Idaho House of Representatives: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Elections won | Elections won by less than 10% | Unopposed elections | Average margin of victory[1] |
| Democratic |
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| Republican |
||||
 Other |
||||
| Total | ||||
The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).
Seats flipped
The below map displays each seat in the Idaho House of Representatives which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.
| State legislative seats flipped in 2018, Idaho House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | Incumbent | 2018 winner | Direction of flip |
| Idaho House of Representatives District 15A | Lynn Luker |
Steve Berch |
R to D |
| Idaho House of Representatives District 15B | Patrick McDonald |
Jake Ellis |
R to D |
| Idaho House of Representatives District 26A | Steve Miller |
Muffy Davis |
R to D |
| Idaho House of Representatives District 29A | Dustin W. Manwaring |
Chris Abernathy |
R to D |
| Idaho House of Representatives District 5A | Paulette E. Jordan |
Bill Goesling |
D to R |
Incumbents retiring
Twelve incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018.[2] Those incumbents were:
| Name | Party | Current Office |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Redman |  Republican |
House District 2B |
| Don Cheatham | Republican |
House District 3B |
| Luke Malek | Republican |
House District 4A |
| Margie Gannon |  Democratic |
House District 5A |
| Christy Perry | Republican |
House District 11B |
| Hy Kloc | Democratic |
House District 16B |
| Phylis King | Democratic |
House District 18B |
| Stephen Hartgen | Republican |
House District 24B |
| Maxine Bell | Republican |
House District 25A |
| Kelley Packer | Republican |
House District 28B |
| Dell Raybould | Republican |
House District 34B |
| Van Burtenshaw | Republican |
House District 35A |
Process to become a candidate
See statutes: Title 34 of the Idaho Code
Political party candidates
A partisan candidate for a local office must file a declaration of candidacy and either pay a filing fee or submit a petition containing the required number of signatures with the relevant city, district, or county.[3] A candidate for a statewide, state legislative, or federal office must file a declaration of candidacy and either pay a filing fee or submit a petition containing the required number of signatures with Idaho Secretary of State.[3]
For a candidate collecting signatures to be filed with a declaration of candidacy, each signature sheet must contain the signatures of qualified electors from a single county and must be verified by the appropriate county clerk prior to being filed with the Idaho Secretary of State. This applies to candidates for all statewide offices, state legislative offices, and congressional offices. Filing fees and signature requirements vary according to the office sought and are set out in the table below.[3]
| Filing fees and petition signature requirements for partisan candidates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office sought | Filing fee | Petition signature requirements |
| United States Senator | $500 | 500 |
| United States Representative | $300 | 500 |
| Governor | $300 | 1,000 |
| Lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state controller, attorney general, and superintendent of public instructure | $200 | 1,000 |
| State legislator | $30 | 50 |
Independent candidates
An independent candidate must file a declaration of candidacy and submit a petition containing the required number of signatures with the Idaho Secretary of State.[3][4]
Each petition signature sheet must contain the signatures of qualified electors from a single county and must be verified by the appropriate county clerk prior to being filed with the Idaho Secretary of State. This applies to all statewide, state legislative, and congressional offices.[3] Candidates must collect 1,000 signatures for any statewide office, including U.S. Senate, 500 for U.S. House, 50 for state legislative districts, and five for county offices.[4]
Write-in candidates
A write-in candidate must file a declaration of intent form with the Idaho Secretary of State. A write-in candidate seeking the nomination of a political party in the primary election also must pay the filing fee required of that office within 10 days following the primary election date. A write-in candidate must also receive a minimum number of votes in the primary election in order to advance to the general election. These vote thresholds are as follows: [5]
- 1,000 for any statewide office
- 500 for a congressional district office
- 50 for a state legislative office
A write-in candidate must file a declaration of intent form no less than 28 days before the primary or general election.[6]
Qualifications
Article III, Section 6 of the Idaho Constitution states: No person shall be a senator or representative who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, and an elector of this state, nor anyone who has not been for one year next preceding his election an elector of the county or district whence he may be chosen.
Salaries and per diem
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[7] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $19,913/year | For legislators residing within 50 miles of the capitol: $74/day. For legislators residing more than 50 miles from the capitol: $221/day. |
When sworn in
Idaho legislators assume office on the first day in December following the general election.[8]
Idaho political history
Party control
2018
In the 2018 elections, the Republican majority in the Idaho House of Representatives was reduced from 59-11 to 56-14.
| Idaho House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 6, 2018 | After November 7, 2018 | |
| Democratic Party | 11 | 14 | |
| Republican Party | 59 | 56 | |
| Total | 70 | 70 | |
2016
In the 2016 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Idaho House of Representatives from 56-14 to 59-11.
| Idaho House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 14 | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 56 | 59 | |
| Total | 70 | 70 | |
Trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in Idaho gained a state government trifecta as a result of the 1994 elections when they took control of the governor's office and retained control of the state legislature. Republicans held their trifecta every year from 1995 to 2017.
Idaho Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty one 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 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | 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 | R | R | R |
Wave election analysis
- See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)
The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?
Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.
Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.
The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.
| State legislative wave elections | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | President | Party | Election type | State legislative seats change | Elections analyzed[9] | |
| 1932 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -1,022 | 7,365 | |
| 1922 | Harding | R | First midterm | -907 | 6,907 | |
| 1966 | Johnson | D | First midterm[10] | -782 | 7,561 | |
| 1938 | Roosevelt | D | Second midterm | -769 | 7,179 | |
| 1958 | Eisenhower | R | Second midterm | -702 | 7,627 | |
| 2010 | Obama | D | First midterm | -702 | 7,306 | |
| 1974 | Ford | R | Second midterm[11] | -695 | 7,481 | |
| 1920 | Wilson | D | Presidential | -654 | 6,835 | |
| 1930 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -640 | 7,361 | |
| 1954 | Eisenhower | R | First midterm | -494 | 7,513 | |
Competitiveness
Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.
Results from 2016
Click here to read the full study »
Historical context
Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.
Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.
Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.
Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.
Pivot Counties
- See also: Pivot Counties by state
No counties in Idaho are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.
In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Idaho with 59.3 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 27.5 percent. Independent candidate Evan McMullin received 6.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Idaho voted Republican 70 percent of the time and Democratic 30 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Idaho voted Republican all five times.
Presidential results by legislative district
The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Idaho. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[12][13]
| In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 4 out of 35 state House districts in Idaho with an average margin of victory of 13.5 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 4 out of 35 state House districts in Idaho with an average margin of victory of 17 points. |
| In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 31 out of 35 state House districts in Idaho with an average margin of victory of 38.6 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 31 out of 35 state House districts in Idaho with an average margin of victory of 39 points. Trump won three seats controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections. |
| 2016 presidential results by state House district | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Obama | Romney | 2012 Margin | Clinton | Trump | 2016 Margin | |
| 1 | 33.87% | 62.34% | R+28.5 | 26.01% | 65.46% | R+39.5 | |
| 2 | 26.93% | 70.62% | R+43.7 | 20.64% | 71.95% | R+51.3 | |
| 3 | 29.14% | 68.14% | R+39 | 21.06% | 70.57% | R+49.5 | |
| 4 | 39.16% | 57.97% | R+18.8 | 32.30% | 58.13% | R+25.8 | |
| 5 | 45.88% | 49.34% | R+3.5 | 39.67% | 46.41% | R+6.7 | |
| 6 | 37.09% | 60.34% | R+23.3 | 27.14% | 63.35% | R+36.2 | |
| 7 | 30.10% | 66.90% | R+36.8 | 19.98% | 72.55% | R+52.6 | |
| 8 | 29.55% | 67.36% | R+37.8 | 21.50% | 69.20% | R+47.7 | |
| 9 | 25.68% | 71.70% | R+46 | 17.21% | 74.09% | R+56.9 | |
| 10 | 38.47% | 58.37% | R+19.9 | 29.81% | 58.12% | R+28.3 | |
| 11 | 23.55% | 73.82% | R+50.3 | 17.04% | 72.09% | R+55.1 | |
| 12 | 31.70% | 65.46% | R+33.8 | 24.33% | 62.75% | R+38.4 | |
| 13 | 30.45% | 66.85% | R+36.4 | 25.08% | 62.48% | R+37.4 | |
| 14 | 28.40% | 69.37% | R+41 | 25.20% | 62.69% | R+37.5 | |
| 15 | 40.27% | 56.38% | R+16.1 | 36.12% | 49.48% | R+13.4 | |
| 16 | 51.36% | 45.03% | D+6.3 | 47.20% | 39.26% | D+7.9 | |
| 17 | 54.87% | 40.25% | D+14.6 | 48.92% | 35.61% | D+13.3 | |
| 18 | 50.74% | 45.74% | D+5 | 49.32% | 37.45% | D+11.9 | |
| 19 | 62.17% | 34.02% | D+28.2 | 61.76% | 27.06% | D+34.7 | |
| 20 | 31.96% | 65.66% | R+33.7 | 27.79% | 57.58% | R+29.8 | |
| 21 | 33.56% | 63.72% | R+30.2 | 29.26% | 57.07% | R+27.8 | |
| 22 | 28.40% | 68.66% | R+40.3 | 21.33% | 65.07% | R+43.7 | |
| 23 | 27.41% | 69.63% | R+42.2 | 18.40% | 72.24% | R+53.8 | |
| 24 | 30.28% | 66.54% | R+36.3 | 24.58% | 61.74% | R+37.2 | |
| 25 | 23.52% | 73.82% | R+50.3 | 17.71% | 70.40% | R+52.7 | |
| 26 | 45.05% | 52.29% | R+7.2 | 42.82% | 47.54% | R+4.7 | |
| 27 | 16.19% | 81.96% | R+65.8 | 14.64% | 72.01% | R+57.4 | |
| 28 | 31.76% | 66.06% | R+34.3 | 25.38% | 57.30% | R+31.9 | |
| 29 | 43.30% | 53.10% | R+9.8 | 36.52% | 46.08% | R+9.6 | |
| 30 | 19.06% | 78.92% | R+59.9 | 17.63% | 62.15% | R+44.5 | |
| 31 | 21.71% | 76.35% | R+54.6 | 17.59% | 65.61% | R+48 | |
| 32 | 17.05% | 81.10% | R+64.1 | 17.13% | 65.98% | R+48.9 | |
| 33 | 30.56% | 66.37% | R+35.8 | 26.72% | 54.03% | R+27.3 | |
| 34 | 6.92% | 92.00% | R+85.1 | 8.01% | 59.90% | R+51.9 | |
| 35 | 12.96% | 85.32% | R+72.4 | 9.79% | 72.97% | R+63.2 | |
| Total | 32.62% | 64.53% | R+31.9 | 27.49% | 59.26% | R+31.8 | |
| Source: Daily Kos | |||||||
See also
- Idaho House of Representatives
- Idaho State Legislature
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Idaho state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
- Idaho state legislative Republican primaries, 2018
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Excludes unopposed elections
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Vote Idaho, "Running For Office," accessed February 26, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Idaho Statutes, "Title 34, Chapter 7, Section 708," accessed February 26, 2025
- ↑ Idaho Election Code, "Section 34-702," accessed February 26, 2025
- ↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34, Chapter 7, Section 702A," accessed February 26, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ Idaho Constitution, "Article III, Section 3," accessed December 18, 2019
- ↑ The number of state legislative seats available for analysis varied, with as many as 7,795 and as few as 6,835.
- ↑ Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
- ↑ Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
