Incumbent District 32 senator facing opponent in the Republican primary

IDAHO FALLS – Incumbent Sen. Kevin Cook is competing with Keith Newberry for District 32 senator in the Republican primary.

District 32 encompasses a significant portion of rural Bonneville County.

Cook was first elected in 2022 and is seeking a second term. Cook was given a vote of no confidence by the Legislative District 32 Committee in March. They allege he violated the party platform because of his position on school choice and was censured because his vote was not in line with Republican Party principles. The committee also censured him for sharing the allegations and names of petitioners with local media.

RELATED | Legislative committee censures local lawmakers accused of violating party platform

Newberry ran against Cook in the last election. If elected, it will be his first time holding public office.

Details about Cook’s campaign are available on his website.

Newberry’s website is available here.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses were required to be 250 words or less. Their unedited responses are below.

The primary is May 21.

Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work and any prior experience in public office.

Cook: I am a conservative Republican. I grew up on a farm where I learned how to work hard during the week and enjoy the great outdoors – hunting, fishing, and hiking – on the weekends. After high school graduation, I earned a Computer Science degree from Weber State University. While at Weber State, I met and married Cheri. We have been married for 35 years. I have lived in Bonneville County for 25 years. Cheri and I have four children and five grandchildren. I have owned and operated a successful small business.

I am currently employed at the Idaho National Laboratory as a Software Engineer. My career has given me experience in listening to complex situations and how to resolve problems.

I have volunteered for the last 8 years on my Fridays off to go into the classroom and read with students. It’s been an amazing experience. I have seen some of Idaho’s best teachers at work, performing miracles right before my eyes.

Newberry: I grew up in southern Ohio, the eleventh of eighteen children, after graduating from New Richmond High School in 1984, joined the US Navy. As a machinist mate in the nuclear power program, I came to Idaho Falls in 1985 as a Navy Nuclear Power student. I met my wife of 37 years, Barbara in Idaho Falls while a student at the Naval Reactors Facility. I served on a Los Angeles Class submarine, USS Portsmouth SSN 707 for over three years and finished my service on the USS Dixon (AS37), submarine tender, in San Diego California. I honorably discharged from the Navy in 1992, my wife and I returned to Idaho Falls, Idaho with our three children. We now have 10 grandchildren all of whom reside in Idaho Falls. I was a longtime employee with the Idaho National Laboratory until 2021 when BEA forced me to leave over the vaccine mandates. My wife’s small business lost months of income due to the mandates in the State of Idaho. I got involved in the local Republican party, and ran for office in 2022 on a platform of resisting the unconstitutional COVID mandates and restoring individual liberties and fiscal responsibility. I have a Bachelor of Science with Excelsior College and previously volunteered at Berean Baptist Church as the music leader.

Why are you seeking political office? Briefly explain your political platform.

Newberry: We have a crisis of illegal immigration; this year, the Idaho legislature refused a bill to curtail public welfare benefits for those here illegally. This crisis has impacted Idaho with increased crime and drug trafficking across the state as well as in our area. In the past Senator Cook supported SCR-107 which would have led to illegals getting drivers licenses and identification cards, a possible step towards amnesty.

The JFAC committee made some changes to how government spending is approached, lending some transparency. Senator Cook sided with the democrats in trying to squash this. Additionally, if you look at his record associated with government spending, Senator Cook invariably votes yes on spending, in many cases on legislation that would expand the size and scope of the state government leading to increased spending from state monies, federal monies, and increasing the number
of permanent employees by as much as 1600 personnel in some cases. 15 Democrats in the state legislature have a better record on spending than Senator Cook.

Cook: For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in politics. I have a great love for our community.

Education – I am an advocate for greater educational opportunities for Idaho’s students. My dream is to fill every Idaho job with an educated, trained, and skilled Idaho student. To do this we need to support, recruit, and retain great teachers.

Agriculture – Agriculture is a major contributor to the economics of Idaho. I want to further international exposure for Idaho’s farm products. The proper management of our surface water and aquifer is crucial.

Government Growth – I believe in limiting the growth of government and only passing laws and creating new regulations when absolutely necessary. I believe the free market thrives when governments reduce regulations and allow entrepreneurs to implement the accepted principles of capitalism.

What are the greatest challenges facing people and communities in your district? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Cook: Education – The Idaho Supreme Court has stated that the State of Idaho must take a greater part in funding public school facilities. This year I worked to invest $1.5 billion in school facilities. This investment will still require skin in the game from local communities.

I supported the fully funding of the Idaho Launch Grant. For over a century the United States has reigned king of technology. However, in the last couple of decades China has begun to close that gap. The Idaho Launch Grant program will help the rising generation keep America reigning as the technology king. James Madison said “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance;”

Taxes – I worked hard to once again this year to lower Idaho’s income tax by lowering the flat tax to 5.695%; Up to $150 million in new property tax relief this year, and $200 million indirect property tax relief while helping school districts.

Newberry: The cost of living and housing. This is fueled in large part by quantitative easing and out of control federal/state spending on programs such as Medicaid. The federal government is largely responsible, however, at the state level there are some things that can be done. There are several methods that have been employed by other states, Kansas enacted property tax reform, Georgia adopted a flat tax, Utah cut property tax for the elderly. Ohio removed 270,000 government regulations making business expansion easier. In Idaho, we could eliminate the grocery tax, especially considering under the Biden Administration groceries have skyrocketed by 42% increase.

How will you best represent the views of your constituents – even those with differing political views? How will you communicate directly with constituents?

Newberry: I will communicate with constituents via email, cell, and social media. Some are not going to agree with my views and I am not necessarily going to agree with their views; however, I am willing to listen to their views and represent them to the best of my ability, recognizing that I do not know everything, none of us do. Therefore,
these interactions are important especially when ideas and views do not align.

Cook: As a Software Engineer I have learned to listen first, make sure I completely understand the issue and only then do I act with purpose to resolve the issue. A day didn’t go by while in session that I didn’t reach out to a constituent, an expert in the field, visit the project site or watch how a task was performed. I rely heavily on my constituents to answer questions. I do not always agree with what I hear, but I always listen.

What parts of the state budget could use more funding? Where are places in the budget that cuts could be made?

Cook: Our children are struggling with anxiety, depression and other mental issues. If we want healthy
parents in the future that will be contributing members of society, we need to help these kids now. I would like to allocate funds to get more counselors into our schools.

Water is an issue in Idaho. I would like to allocate more funds to figure out how to better manage our water across the state. I don’t want to wait until we run out.

If we truly want to be serious about saving money and using taxes better and smarter, we need to rewrite the state procurement process. I sponsored legislation that puts us in the right direction, but it is going to take many more hours to make a dent in this. I plan to work on this throughout the summer.

Newberry: Each part of the budget needs to be scrutinized to determine where efficiencies can be achieved and where cuts could be made. On the recent US Debt Clock.org, Idaho had an expenditure of approximately 20 billion dollars and the state revenues excluding federal funding was approximately 12.8 billion dollars, reflecting a debt for each citizen of ~$3200. These are unsustainable figures, each piece of the budget needs to be scrutinized for unnecessary wasteful spending.

Are you currently working on any legislation or have ideas for bills that you feel are vital to the future of Idaho? Please provide details.

Newberry: On March 29, 2024, the Pocatello-Chubbuck Observer published an article, by Dr. Ron Nate, on bills that do not make it into committee in the Idaho State Senate. Essentially, Senator Jim Gutherie, 16 bills in total were effectively killed because Senator Gutherie took it upon himself “locking up bills in his drawer, using them for leverage, and/or refusing to allow any debate or votes on issues he doesn’t like.” This type of corruption needs to stop. I would work with other lawmakers to promote ideas for rule changes to ensure this does not continue in our legislature.

Cook: I have an anti-pornography mobile device bill that simply states: Upon activation of a mobile device within the state of Idaho, for a minor then enable the Parental Software filter that is already installed on the device. The parent can turn off the filter for the minor if they wish. When this bill passes the adult will never know the difference. This legislation only affects the minor. This bill does not affect the provider or the retailer, only the manufacturer. This bill passed the Senate and then stalled in the house State Affairs committee. Pornography viewed
by a young child affects mental development. Pornography is the door to greater crimes against women and children. Pornography steals the dreams and ambitions of our youth. Pornography feeds human trafficking. We are the greatest nation on earth and yet we allow children to view pornography.

Have you seen any mistakes made by the Idaho Legislature in recent years? How would you work to correct these errors?

Cook: Legislators are not perfect. We are part-time with no staff, but I have never seen a group of
people that work so hard.

I think one of the mistakes that is made quite often is trying to craft a bill that has a little something for everyone; we call that a Christmas tree bill. Then the last 1 or 2 weeks of the session it gets pushed through. We saw that this year with the Facilities bill. The root of the bill was solid, but then it grew warts.

We need to have single purpose bills, and then we either vote it up or down.

Newberry: A fundamental principle is that government is formed by individuals to protect life, liberty, and property. The Idaho State Legislature failed to do this during the Covid Lockdowns. I would support a prohibition on mask mandates and vaccine mandates.

Under the Biden administration there has been a 42% increase in the cost of groceries. The Idaho State legislature has failed to remove the grocery tax. Idaho is one of 13 states that has a grocery tax. I would work to lift this burden.

What is the most important issue facing Idahoans? What is a legislator’s role in meeting or addressing that issue?

Newberry: Our republic is under attack in many ways: gender ideology, out of control spending at the state and federal levels, the federal government becoming lawless and not protecting our borders, the American people being propagandized by the media in the US. There are other concerns, the transgender movement that is creeping into Idaho schools, inflation and the cost of living.

There has been a movement in the legislature to curb the transgender ideology, this needs to continue. I discussed methods to combat the cost of living and inflation above.

Inflation and the cost of living in the state. Families are scratching to get by. Eliminating the grocery tax in Idaho would provide some relief to these families. There are other methods states have employed to fight inflation, Idaho needs to investigate some of these and implement things that make sense in this state.

Cook: Wow, the single most important issue facing Idaho. Let’s see there is water, education, government growth, property taxes, First Amendment, Second Amendment, population growth, …

We have people coming in from other states and countries bringing with them their own dreams, wishes and issues. Growth affects the entire infrastructure of Idaho. It touches healthcare, transportation, farming, government, water, and education. Growth is not a bad thing; we just need to manage it and that is going to take all legislators working together, compromising a little and yet being willing to stick to your values on other issues. We need to listen and put ourselves in each other’s position. There is not one person that is all knowing in every sector, we will have to rely on each other. Many states will fail, but Idaho has the caliber of people with integrity that will rise to the top and make it work.