Matthew Clifford

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Matthew Clifford

Republican Party

Ada County Sheriff

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Stephen Bartlett

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Appointed

July 2, 2021

Education

Bachelor's

Boise State University, 2000

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Matthew Clifford (Republican Party) is the Ada County Sheriff in Idaho. He assumed office on July 2, 2021. His current term ends on January 8, 2029.

Clifford (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Ada County Sheriff in Idaho. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Matthew Clifford earned a bachelor's degree from Boise State University in 2000.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Ada County, Idaho (2024)

General election

General election for Ada County Sheriff

Incumbent Matthew Clifford defeated Doug Traubel in the general election for Ada County Sheriff on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Clifford (R)	76.3	176,227
		Doug Traubel (Constitution Party)	23.7	54,673

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 230,900
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Victor McCraw (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ada County Sheriff

Victor McCraw advanced from the Democratic primary for Ada County Sheriff on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Victor McCraw	100.0	13,111

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,111
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ada County Sheriff

Incumbent Matthew Clifford advanced from the Republican primary for Ada County Sheriff on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Clifford	100.0	36,714

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,714
= 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.

Constitution primary election

Constitution primary for Ada County Sheriff

Doug Traubel advanced from the Constitution primary for Ada County Sheriff on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doug Traubel	100.0	123

---

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

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Clifford in this election.

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Ada County, Idaho (2022)

General election

Special general election for Ada County Sheriff

Incumbent Matthew Clifford defeated Victor McCraw in the special general election for Ada County Sheriff on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Clifford (R)	58.8	105,042
	Submit photo	Victor McCraw (D)	41.2	73,461

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 178,503
= 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

Special Democratic primary for Ada County Sheriff

Victor McCraw advanced from the special Democratic primary for Ada County Sheriff on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Victor McCraw	100.0	12,799

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,799
= 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

Special Republican primary for Ada County Sheriff

Incumbent Matthew Clifford defeated Doug Traubel in the special Republican primary for Ada County Sheriff on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Clifford	65.6	41,151
		Doug Traubel	34.4	21,623

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 62,774
= 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

To view Clifford's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matthew Clifford did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Matthew Clifford completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Clifford'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.

Sheriff Matt Clifford is a lifelong resident of Idaho who cherishes the qualities that make Ada County a beautiful and safe place to live, work, and play. After earning a biology degree from Boise State University, he started a career in law enforcement at the Ada County Sheriff’s Office where he has proudly worked for more than 21 years. He has been a K9 handler, patrol trainer, patrol and court transport sergeant as well as supervised the K9 team and patrol training program. He also served as the chief of police in the city of Eagle.

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 will work every day to ensure Ada County is a safe place to live, work, and play.
• I believe as sherif my role is to serve, protect and defend. As Sheriff, I will serve you, protect your rights and defend the constitution.
• I have worked for the Ada County Sheriff’s office for 22 years. I’m asking for you vote on Nov. 8th so that I can continue to serve you.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

We are facing a fentanyl crisis in our community. As sheriff I am working at all levels of government combat this crisis. I believe every public servant should be paying close attention to this crisis. We need to work together to contain this crisis and keep our kids away from this dangerous drug.

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.

See also

2024 Elections

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Stephen Bartlett (R)	Ada County Sheriff 2021-Present	Succeeded by -