EAST IDAHO ELECTS: Rep. Wendy Horman and Randy Neal compete for District 30 seat - East Idaho News
East Idaho Elects

EAST IDAHO ELECTS: Rep. Wendy Horman and Randy Neal compete for District 30 seat

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IDAHO FALLS — Two Republican candidates who faced off during the 2016 primary election are at it again.

Incumbent Rep. Wendy Horman and challenger Randy Neal are seeking the Legislative District 30 Seat B in the Idaho House of Representatives. In 2016, Horman beat Neal with 68 to 31 percent of the vote.

We got to know both of them a little better — check out our interviews with them below.

Be sure to vote in the May 15 primary. More information can be found here.

Randy Neal

Local immigration attorney Randy Neal is trying his hand at District 30 Seat B for the second time.

His main focus during this campaign is acting as a true representative for the voice of the people in Ammon and the eastern parts of Bonneville County.

“You have got to be interacting with the people in this district, they have to know what (their) Legislature is up to, and you’ve got to know how they feel about it,” Neal said. “The way you represent the constituents is to hear their voices. How can you do that if you’re only talking to them once every two years? That’s silly.”

Neal is determined to always be available for anyone needing to reach out to a representative.

“Phone calls and emails not being responded to. That’s unthinkable,” Neal said. “How do you represent if you’re not responding?”

He said he is determined not to be swayed by special interest groups or alliances with those in leadership offices. He said he feels the largest issue within the Legislature is the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups pushing their agendas at the state level.

“I can’t accept big-money donations. I just can’t do it. I can’t take it from these PACs and I can’t take it from special interests, I can’t let the Legislature be about my career goals … I can’t let that influence me,” Neal said. “It’s either that or represent the people that elected you.”

Neal said it seems conservative principles are surfacing more within the Republican platform and he wants that to progress.

“I want that influence to increase I want to be part of that,” Neal said.

Neal grew up in Tuttle and has been in public service for 26 years, according to his professional biography. He worked 17 years in law enforcement before heading to law school. He worked in Washington, D.C., under the George W. Bush administration in the Department of Justice. He has also served as a prosecuting attorney and represents the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee on the state level.

Rep. Wendy Horman

Rep. Wendy Horman is looking forward to a fourth term in District 30 Seat B. Over the years her platform has centered around education policy, but more recently it has also come to encompass issues regarding education financing.

“I’m co-chairing a legislative interim committee that is in middle of overhauling our public school funding formula, which dates back to 1994,” Horman said.

During recent legislative session, Horman has worked to change these formulas, which do not take the mass use of the internet and virtual classroom settings into account.

Horman has helped to write budgets for K-12 and higher education. She says the Legislature has called for an evaluation of three different budget programs this year to see if money is being invested in the right ways. The work is yielding positive outcomes for students, she said.

Horman said education is what brought her to the Legislature. Before her current role, she served on the Bonneville Joint School District 93 school board for 11 years. Before that, she was a school volunteer and a math tutor. Horman started a fine arts program at her child’s school, which has since spread throughout D93.

“I care deeply that our students have the opportunities they need to be successful,” Horman said.

She says there should be more flexibility and more autonomy, more ownership at the local level when it comes to education.

“I’ve always been about more local control and innovation,” Horman said.

She authored the Idaho School Safety and Security Act in 2015, which created the office of school safety and security. The office has advisory boards and brings first responders together, along with parents, teachers and administrators.

“I can do what I can do. I’m one person and I represent our area, but it is important to have that big-picture vision for the whole state. The area of expertise that I can contribute to the Legislature certainly is in the area of education policy and finance,” Horman said.

Horman was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2012. She serves on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, House Commerce and Human Resources, House Energy, Environment and Technology, and Capital Services committees. She is co-chairwoman of the Public School Funding Formula Legislative Interim Committee.

She and her husband, Briggs, are business owners in Ammon and have been married 32 years. They have five children and two grandchildren. She has also worked as a program auditor for a charter school network, a school board trainer and an organ instructor.

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