W. Lane Startin

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

W. Lane Startin

Democratic Party

Candidate, Idaho State Senate District 25

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Next election

May 19, 2026

Education

High school

Twin Falls High School

High school

Twins Fall High School

Bachelor's

Idaho State University, 1996

Bachelor's

Idaho State University

Personal

Birthplace

Coeur d'Alene, ID

Religion

Unaffiliated

Profession

Technician

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

W. Lane Startin (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Idaho State Senate to represent District 25. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.^[source]

Biography

W. Lane Startin was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He earned a high school diploma from Twin Falls High School and a bachelor's degree from Idaho State University in 1996. Startin also attended the College of Southern Idaho. His career experience includes working as a technician, freelance writer, call center manager, and insurance agent. As of 2024, Startin was affiliated with the Southern Idaho chapter of American Mensa.

Elections

2026

See also: Idaho State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Idaho State Senate District 25

W. Lane Startin (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Idaho State Senate District 25 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		W. Lane Startin

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 25

Incumbent Josh Kohl (R) and Casey Swensen (R) are running in the Republican primary for Idaho State Senate District 25 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Josh Kohl
	Submit photo	Casey Swensen

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2024

See also: Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Idaho House of Representatives District 25A

Incumbent Lance Clow defeated W. Lane Startin in the general election for Idaho House of Representatives District 25A on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Clow (R)	72.1	13,264
		W. Lane Startin (D)	27.9	5,128

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,392
= 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 Idaho House of Representatives District 25A

W. Lane Startin advanced from the Democratic primary for Idaho House of Representatives District 25A on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		W. Lane Startin	100.0	380

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 380
= 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 House of Representatives District 25A

Incumbent Lance Clow advanced from the Republican primary for Idaho House of Representatives District 25A on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Clow	100.0	3,848

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,848
= 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 Startin in this election.

2014

See also: Idaho down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Startin ran for Idaho Treasurer. Startin lost in the Democratic primary on May 20, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Primary Election Results

• Democratic primary

Idaho Treasurer, Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Deborah Silver	84%	19,987
W. Lane Startin	16%	3,803
Total Votes		23,790
Election results via Idaho Secretary of State.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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2024

W. Lane Startin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Startin's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a lead field service technician for a major medical technology company. Having lived and worked throughout the country, I returned home after many eye-opening and satisfying experiences. I am an alumnus of Twin Falls High School, College of Southern Idaho, and Idaho State University.

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?

• Upholding the Twin Falls tradition of moderation
• Personal choice
• Restoring local option

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Personal liberty, education and growth

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Cecil Andrus. For decades, he was instrumental in making Idaho work. He did it by listening.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Moderation and a willingness to listen to and incorporate the ideas of others.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Passing legislation to ensure the most efficient government possible while also fulfilling our state constitutional obligations.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Iran hostage crisis

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Tom Sawyer" by Rush

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Growth, maintaining personal freedoms and resisting political extremism.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

It's advantageous, but not absolutely necessary. One has to start somewhere.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Absolutely. It is just as important to work with others in the Legislature as it is to truly work with my own constituents.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Former Idaho Sen. Ron Beitelspacher

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

Perhaps, but that's not something I'm thinking about right now.

What committees interest you?

State Affairs, Business, Education

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

They are of paramount importance, a basic requirement of the office.

Do you support or oppose changes to the current state ballot initiative process? If so, what kind of changes would you consider?

The ballot initiative process should be made easier, similar to how it was 10-15 years ago.

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.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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W. Lane Startin campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024	Idaho House of Representatives District 25A	Lost general	$962	$2,071
Grand total			$962	$2,071
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

See also

2026 Elections

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Idaho State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Lori Den Hartog

Minority Leader:Melissa Wintrow

Senators

District 1

Jim Woodward (R)

District 2

Phil Hart (R)

District 3

Doug Okuniewicz (R)

District 4

Ben Toews (R)

District 5

Carl Bjerke (R)

District 6

Dan Foreman (R)

District 7

Cindy Carlson (R)

District 8

Christy Zito (R)

District 9

Brandon Shippy (R)

District 10

Tammy Nichols (R)

District 11

Camille Blaylock (R)

District 12

Ben Adams (R)

District 13

Brian Lenney (R)

District 14

C. Scott Grow (R)

District 15

Codi Galloway (R)

District 16

Alison Rabe (D)

District 17

Carrie Semmelroth (D)

District 18

Janie Ward-Engelking (D)

District 19

Melissa Wintrow (D)

District 20

Josh Keyser (R)

District 21

Treg Bernt (R)

District 22

Lori Den Hartog (R)

District 23

Todd Lakey (R)

District 24

Glenneda Zuiderveld (R)

District 25

Josh Kohl (R)

District 26

Ron Taylor (D)

District 27

Kelly Anthon (R)

District 28

Jim Guthrie (R)

District 29

James Ruchti (D)

District 30

Julie VanOrden (R)

District 31

Van Burtenshaw (R)

District 32

Kevin Cook (R)

District 33

David Lent (R)

District 34

Doug Ricks (R)

District 35

Mark Harris (R)

Republican Party (29)

Democratic Party (6)