EAST IDAHO ELECTS: Democratic gubernatorial candidates address sold out crowd in Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — Two Democrat candidates for governor addressed a sold-out audience at the Bonneville County Democrats Truman Banquet Saturday.
Besides the two candidates running for governor, over two hundred local Democrats and Progressives in attendance cheered for Medicaid expansion, which may appear on Idaho ballots in November thanks to Reclaim Idaho.
Paulette Jordan and A.J. Balukoff, both of whom are running for Governor of Idaho, recognized Reclaim Idaho for its work on collecting signatures for Medicaid expansion.
Reclaim Idaho claims it has collected over 56,000 signatures needed to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot in November.
“Everyone understands the importance of having access to healthcare universally in our state,” Ballukoff said in his speech. “We will pass Medicaid expansion. We will get it funded and operated properly.”
Ballukoff won the Democratic Primary in 2014 with 65 percent of the vote. He lost the overall race against Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter with just 38 percent of the Idaho vote. He has served as a member of the Boise School District Board of Trustees since 1997 and is a certified public accountant.
Jordan was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives District 5 Seat A in Cour d’Alene in 2014. She announced her resignation in February 2018 to focus on her run governor. She was the only Democrat legislator from northern Idaho serving at the time. Previously, she served on the Couer d’Alene Tribal Council.
“This is our year and this is our opportunity to ensure that the voices of the people are heard,” Jordan told EastIdahoNews.com. “I think now, under the leadership that we see, with our candidacy, we can ensure that we are continuing the grassroots movement, fighting for the values and the roots of this land. I am proud to say that we are going to continue this movement forward through November.”
In her speech, Jordan focused on education.
“We have to fight for early childhood education,” she said. “An opt-in universal pre-K program. When we invest in them (children), we build up our economy.”
Balukoff focused on Idaho under Republican leadership.
“We’ve become a scroll-down-state,” he said. “If you want to see where Idaho ranks among other states, you scroll to the bottom.”
Jordan said she hasn’t only been focusing on Democrats but has been reaching out to Libertarians and Republicans as well.
“You’ve got to talk to everyone in your community,” she told the audience. “Whether that’s an elderly woman or a young child because they need our help too.”
Balukoff said he wants Idaho Democrats to look to the future of the party and upcoming elections. He cited the various Idaho legislative races Democrats are running in.
“We need to begin to recruit candidates to run two years from now so that we don’t have any open seats,” he said. “It’s important that we all come together to elect our candidates in November.”
If either Jordan or Balukoff is elected as the Governor of Idaho, it will be the first time Idaho would have a Democratic governor since Cecil Andrus began his final term in 1990.