United States Senate election in Idaho, 2016

2016 U.S. Senate Election in Idaho

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date May 17, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Mike Crapo

Incumbent prior to election: Mike Crapo

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Solid R Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe R Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe R

Other Senate Elections Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maryland • Missouri • Nevada • New Hampshire • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • South Carolina • South Dakota • Utah • Vermont • Washington • Wisconsin

2016 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Idaho elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 8, 2016.

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated Idaho's U.S. Senate race as safely Republican. Incumbent Mike Crapo (R) defeated Jerry Sturgill (D) and Ray Writz (Constitution Party) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Crapo and Sturgill both ran unopposed in their respective party primaries. Writz defeated Pro-Life to win the Constitution Party nomination. The primary election were held on May 17, 2016.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 11, 2016	May 17, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: 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.

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

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 3 Senate seat held by Mike Crapo (R). He was first elected in 1998.

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, Idaho General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Crapo Incumbent	66.1%	449,017
	Democratic	Jerry Sturgill	27.7%	188,249
	Constitution	Ray Writz	6.1%	41,677
Total Votes				678,943
Source: Idaho Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Mike Crapoa
Jerry Sturgill
Ray Writz

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Jerry Sturgill a

Republican

Mike Crapo - Incumbent a

Third Party/Other

Pro-Life (Constitution Party)
Ray Writz (Constitution Party) a

Election history

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Idaho, 2014

On November 4, 2014, incumbent Jim Risch (R) defeated challenger Nels Mitchell (D) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Idaho General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jim Risch Incumbent	65.3%	285,596
	Democratic	Nels Mitchell	34.7%	151,574
Total Votes				437,170
Source: Idaho Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Crapo (R) won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated P. Tom Sullivan (D), Randy Lynn Bergquist (I) and Frederick R. Reinisch, Jr (I) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Idaho General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Crapo Incumbent	71.2%	319,953
	Democratic	P. Tom Sullivan	24.9%	112,057
	Constitution Party	Randy Lynn Bergquist	3.9%	17,429
	Independent	Frederick R. Reinisch, Jr	0%	91
Total Votes				449,530

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Idaho elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Idaho in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
March 8, 2016	Election date	Presidential preference primary election
March 11, 2016	Ballot access	Filing deadline for both party and independent candidates
April 19, 2016	Ballot access	Deadline for write-in candidates to file declarations of intent for the primary election
May 10, 2016	Campaign finance	7-day pre-primary report due
May 17, 2016	Election date	Primary election
June 16, 2016	Campaign finance	30-day post-primary report due
August 1, 2016	Campaign finance	Semi-annual report due (for non-active statewide candidates only)
August 30, 2016	Ballot access	Last day to file new political party formation petitions
October 11, 2016	Ballot access	Deadline for write-in candidates to file declarations of intent for the general election
October 11, 2016	Campaign finance	Pre-general report due
November 1, 2016	Campaign finance	7-day pre-general report due
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
December 8, 2016	Campaign finance	30-day post-general report due
January 31, 2017	Campaign finance	Annual report due
Sources: Idaho Secretary of State, "Elections–2016 Election Consolidation Calendar," accessed July 9, 2015 Idaho Secretary of State, "Idaho Sunshine Law - Reporting Dates - 2015/2016 Election Cycle," accessed July 9, 2015

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2016
• United States Senate elections, 2016
• Mike Crapo

Footnotes

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

---

Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Frank Festa • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond • Erica Shumaker
External Relations: Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

---

Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams. Managing Editor of Events • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Jimmy McAllister • Brandon McCauley • Ellie Mikus • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox

For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!

[show]

Idaho's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Mike Crapo (R)

Jim Risch (R)

Representatives

District 1

Russ Fulcher (R)

District 2

Michael Simpson (R)

Republican Party (4)