Steven Thayn
Steven Thayn (Republican Party) was a member of the Idaho State Senate, representing District 8. He assumed office on December 1, 2012. He left office on December 1, 2022.
Thayn (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Idaho State Senate to represent District 14. He lost in the Republican primary on May 17, 2022.
Thayn previously served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2006 to 2012.
Biography
Thyan earned his B.S. in political science from Boise State University. His professional experience includes working as a high school teacher and farmer.
Committee assignments
2021-2022
Thayn was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Thayn was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee
- Judiciary and Rules Committee
- Senate Education Committee, Vice Chair
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Idaho committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agricultural Affairs |
| • Commerce and Human Resources |
| • Education, Vice chair |
| • Change in Employee Compensation |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Thayn served on the following committees:
| Idaho committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Education, Vice chair |
| • Finance |
| • Joint Finance-Appropriations |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Thayn served on the following committees:
| Idaho committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Finance |
| • Joint Finance-Appropriations |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Thayn served on these committees:
| Idaho committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Human Resources |
| • Education |
| • Health and Welfare |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Thayn served on these committees:
| Idaho committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Human Resources |
| • Education |
| • Health and Welfare |
Issues
Teacher tenure
In 2011, Wyoming and Montana worked on bills that would end teacher tenure. Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho all shared heavily-Republican legislatures in the 2011 session. Anti-tenure ideas came from Republicans in Wyoming and Montana, raising the question about whether a similar plan could come to the Idaho.
Rep. Thayn of Idaho said that he wanted to have the discussion about enduing tenure, but did’t make a firm commitment to supporting the idea.
"The current system helps teachers more than it helps students," said Thayn. "Having tenure doesn’t help students. So yes, I think that discussion should come to Idaho."
Advocates for the bill in Wyoming said that the legislation protected good teachers while making it much easier to remove poor educators from classrooms.
Sen. Hank Coe said the legislation would make teachers more accountable to the people who pay their salaries, the taxpayers.
“People flat don’t like tenure,” Coe said. “People in the real world don’t like it. It doesn’t exist in any other business.”
Rep. Derek Skees said he “want(s) to make tenure basically illegal in the state of Montana.”
"Any environment that legalizes bad behavior needs to be removed, and I think tenure legalizes bad behavior,” said Skees.
Skees’ plan not only included K-12 public school teachers, but university professors as well.[1]
Idaho’s kindergarten system
Rep. Thayn wanted to overhaul Idaho’s kindergarten system and integrate parents into the education process. Thayn believed the move would save more than $50 million, a figure he counted on for the plan to gain traction with state representatives and senators.
Idaho was facing what some believed would be a budget gap of $200 million to $400 million in fiscal year 2012.
The aim was to cut the amount school districts receive to pay for kindergarten instruction and give schools the flexibility to create their own programs.
In Thayn’s vision, schools would hire kindergarten coordinators, staffers assigned to provide support, curriculum, and technical expertise to parents of students. Parents would then take curriculum directives and teach them directly to their own children, thereby eliminating the need for kindergarten teachers.[2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Idaho State Senate District 14
Incumbent C. Scott Grow defeated Robert Imhoff and Kirsten Faith Richardson in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 14 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | C. Scott Grow (R) | 81.2 | 18,502 |
 | Robert Imhoff (L) | 10.3 | 2,356 | |
 | Kirsten Faith Richardson (Constitution Party) | 8.5 | 1,934 | |
| Total votes: 22,792 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 14
Incumbent C. Scott Grow defeated incumbent Steven Thayn and Katie Donahue in the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 14 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | C. Scott Grow | 47.8 | 6,038 |
 | Steven Thayn | 40.3 | 5,092 | |
| Katie Donahue | 11.9 | 1,509 | ||
| Total votes: 12,639 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Constitution primary election
Constitution primary for Idaho State Senate District 14
Kirsten Faith Richardson advanced from the Constitution primary for Idaho State Senate District 14 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kirsten Faith Richardson | 100.0 | 18 |
| Total votes: 18 | |||
| = 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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Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Idaho State Senate District 14
Robert Imhoff advanced from the Libertarian primary for Idaho State Senate District 14 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Imhoff | 100.0 | 28 |
| Total votes: 28 | |||
| = 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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2020
See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Idaho State Senate District 8
Incumbent Steven Thayn defeated Bill Sifford and Kirsten Faith Richardson in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 8 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Thayn (R) | 73.9 | 20,173 |
| Bill Sifford (Independent) | 20.5 | 5,589 | ||
| Kirsten Faith Richardson (Constitution Party) | 5.6 | 1,526 | |
| Total votes: 27,288 | |||
| = 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 Idaho State Senate District 8
Incumbent Steven Thayn defeated Marla Lawson in the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 8 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Thayn | 55.1 | 6,182 |
| Marla Lawson | 44.9 | 5,035 | ||
| Total votes: 11,217 | |||
| = 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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2018
- See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Idaho State Senate District 8
Incumbent Steven Thayn defeated Bill Sifford and Kirsten Faith Richardson in the general election for Idaho State Senate District 8 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Thayn (R) | 71.0 | 14,128 |
| Bill Sifford (Independent) | 22.7 | 4,510 | ||
| Kirsten Faith Richardson (Constitution Party) | 6.4 | 1,265 | |
| Total votes: 19,903 | |||
| = 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 Idaho State Senate District 8
Incumbent Steven Thayn defeated Marla Lawson in the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 8 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Thayn | 55.8 | 4,568 |
| Marla Lawson | 44.2 | 3,620 | ||
| Total votes: 8,188 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2016
- See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Idaho State Senate were held in 2016. The primary election took place on May 17, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Incumbent Steven Thayn defeated Kirsten Faith Richardson in the Idaho State Senate District 8 general election.[3][4]
| Idaho State Senate, District 8 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Steven Thayn Incumbent |
76.84% | 16,015 | |
| Constitution | Kirsten Faith Richardson | 23.16% | 4,826 | |
| Total Votes | 20,841 | |||
| Source: Idaho Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Steven Thayn ran unopposed in the Idaho State Senate District 8 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Idaho State Senate District 8, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Steven Thayn Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Kirsten Faith Richardson ran unopposed in the Idaho State Senate District 8 Constitution primary.[7][8]
| Idaho State Senate District 8, Constitution Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Constitution | Kirsten Faith Richardson (unopposed) | |
2014
- See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Idaho State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 14, 2014. Incumbent Steven P. Thayn was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Kirsten Faith Richardson (I) in the general election.[9][10][11][12]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven P. Thayn Incumbent |
71.4% | 10,675 | |
| Independent | Kirsten Faith Richardson | 28.6% | 4,266 | |
| Total Votes | 14,941 | |||
2012
- See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2012
Thayn won election in the 2012 election for Idaho State Senate Idaho State Senate District 8. Thayn defeated Terry Gestrin and Alan D. Ward in the May 15 Republican primary and defeated Joanna Clausen (D) and Kirsten Faith Richardson (I) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[13][14][15]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Thayn |
61% | 13,068 | |
| Democratic | Joanna Clausen | 31% | 6,656 | |
| Independent | Kirsten Faith Richardson | 8% | 1,713 | |
| Total Votes | 21,437 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Steven Thayn |
44.6% | 3,312 |
| Alan D. Ward | 27.8% | 2,065 |
| Terry Gestrin | 27.6% | 2,053 |
| Total Votes | 7,430 | |
2010
Thayn won re-election to District Seat 11A in 2010 with no opposition. He defeated Mike Pullin in the Republican primary on May 25th by a margin of 3,464 to 1,856. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.[16]
| Idaho House of Representatives, District 11A (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Steven Thayn (R)
|
11,687 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Republican Steven Thayn won re-election to the Idaho House of Representatives District 11A receiving 59.9% of the vote (11,538 votes), ahead of Democrat Bob Solomon who received 40.1% of the vote (7,724 votes).[17]
| Idaho House of Representatives, District 11A (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Steven Thayn (R)
|
11,538 | 59.9% | ||
| Bob Solomon (D) | 7,724 | 40.1% | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Steven Thayn did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Steven Thayn did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Idaho scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 31.
- Legislators are scored on their stance on civil liberties issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to upholding and defending Idaho values.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business and economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their stance on education policy.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on sportsman-related bills.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 11 to November 17.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 6 to March 20.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 11.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 28.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 29.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 11 through March 25.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 11.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 6 through March 21.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 4.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Idaho State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 29.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Steven and his wife, Sherry, have eight children.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ "Legislators in neighboring states looking to end teacher tenure in 2011," Idaho Reporter, December 16th, 2010
- ↑ "Emmett Republican wants overhaul of Idaho’s kindergarten system," Idaho Reporter, December 20th, 2010
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "General election candidate list," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Nov 08, 2016 General Election Results," accessed November 25, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Declaration for March 11, 2016, primary," accessed March 11, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 17, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Declaration for March 11, 2016, primary," accessed March 11, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 17, 2016
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 12, 2014
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed July 7, 2014
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State Election Division, "May 15, 2012 Primary Election Results," accessed July 4, 2012
- ↑ Office of the Idaho Secretary of State, "List of All Candidate Declarations for 2012," accessed March 14, 2012
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State – Elections Division, "November 6, 2012 General Election Results," accessed December 27, 2012
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed April 16, 2014
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed April 16, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Idaho State Senate District 8 2012-2022 |
Succeeded by Geoff Schroeder (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Idaho House of Representatives District 11A 2006-2012 |
Succeeded by - |
