Rich Riffle

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Rich Riffle

Republican Party

Ada County Coroner

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Dotti Owens

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Linfield College, 2000

Personal

Profession

Retired

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Rich Riffle (Republican Party) is the Ada County Coroner in Idaho. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.

Riffle (Republican Party) ran for election for Ada County Coroner in Idaho. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Riffle completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rich Riffle earned a bachelor's degree from Linfield College in 2000. His career experience includes working in law enforcement experience and as a certified deputy medical examiner. Riffle has been affiliated with Code 3 to 1 and has served as president of Retired Law Enforcement Officers of Idaho.

Elections

2022

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

General election

General election for Ada County Coroner

Rich Riffle defeated incumbent Dotti Owens in the general election for Ada County Coroner on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rich Riffle (R)	50.2	88,158
		Dotti Owens (D)	49.8	87,363

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 175,521
= 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 Coroner

Incumbent Dotti Owens advanced from the Democratic primary for Ada County Coroner on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dotti Owens	100.0	12,826

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,826
= 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 Ada County Coroner

Rich Riffle defeated Cheri Durst in the Republican primary for Ada County Coroner on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rich Riffle	52.3	29,519
	Submit photo	Cheri Durst	47.7	26,930

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,449
= 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 themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rich Riffle completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Riffle's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I retired after 26 years in law enforcement in Oregon. For 15 of those years, I served as a Deputy Medical Examiner and Chief of Police. I went on to serve on a City Council. We moved to Idaho where as we felt it was a much better fit for our beliefs. I feel that I'm qualified to take on the duties and responsibilities of County Coroner and will provide this valued and important service to the community. This position requires compassion and dedication to provide timely services to the public.

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 am not a stranger to the type of work being conducted by this office. I've worked with the families involved and have treated all with dignity, respect, and compassion.
• Coming from a law enforcement background, I will be able to easily work with local agencies and ensure our office provides information and assistance in a timely manner.
• I will strive to be fiscally conservative while maintaining the high standards of this office. As Ada County grows, so must the services of this agency. I will work diligently with all stakeholders to provide efficient services to the public.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

First responder and military member mental health. We loose too many of these valuable members of our society to substance abuse and suicide. Providing services to these men, women, and their families is crucial to the health and safety of our community.

Government spending and transparency. Government should be transparent and fiscally responsible while providing the best possible services to our community. It is important that government has a balance of services within it's means to provide. It is also very important to be as free of government regulations as possible. I'm proud to live in Idaho where this state is the least regulated in the nation.

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

Compassion and patience.

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

2022 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Candidate

Ada County Coroner

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Dotti Owens (D)	Ada County Coroner 2023-Present	Succeeded by -