Incumbent Sen. Geoff Schroeder running against former state senator Christy Zito for Legislative District 8

CUSTER COUNTY — Incumbent Sen. Geoff Schroeder is running against former state senator Christy Zito for Legislative District 8 in the Republican primary.

District 8 encompasses Custer, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties.

Click here to view Schroeder’s campaign website.

Click here to view Zito’s campaign website.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each county candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety and without grammatical or style editing.

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.

Schroeder: I grew up on a ranch 8 miles outside Kamiah, attended kindergarten through 12th grade there, graduating in 1984. I went on to the University of Idaho and there joined the Idaho Army National Guard in 1986. In 1987 I became a full time active duty guard member, and was transferred to Mountain Home in 1990, where I've lived ever since. I retired from the Guard in 2007 after serving in Iraq with the 116th Brigade in 2004-2005.

After retirement, I was elected to two terms to the Mountain Home city council, in 2007 and 2013. In 2012 I finished the degree I started in 1986, earning a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Boise State University. I later decided to attend law school, and graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2018 and was admitted to the bar that same year.

I currently serve as attorney for 16 cities and a countywide library district, located in 12 counties across 10 legislative districts. The cities I represent range in population from 14,000 to less than 100, in counties ranging from Idaho's smallest to its fourth largest in population. Each day I deal with issues facing those cities, and how best to legally address those issues. I attend multiple city council meetings each month and I am continually impressed by the sense of duty and commitment these officials have in serving their citizens. I’ve been a member of the Mtn. Home Lions Club for 34 years, and am a lifetime member of the VFW.

Zito: As a proud Idahoan, mother, grandmother, gun owner, small business owner and many other things, I was blessed to raise my children on a small family farm. It was there that they learned the importance of putting in a hard day’s work, and of earning your way forward.

As an Idahoan, I know how critical it is that we take care of our state.

As a mother and a grandmother, I know how precious life is from conception to natural death. God created our children perfectly in His image.

As a former school board member, I understand how frustrating it is to have your local authority usurped by a state or federal mandate that is unfunded and often unnecessary.

I served in the Idaho House of Representatives, and in the Idaho Senate, retiring to work for the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, protecting one of our most basic freedoms.

As a small business owner and farmer, I understand the challenges of being a small business owner.

Nothing is more important to preserving our state and Nation than protecting our first freedoms, that God has bestowed upon us.

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

Zito: I am running for office to do all that I can to ensure that our grandchildren will know the America that I knew. To be proud to be an American and to know the beauty of American exceptionalism. Idaho has been a bedrock of freedom and opportunity; I want to see that continue.

Schroeder: I am seeking re-election to office because I believe I have been an effective and successful legislator, helping to make legislation better with my experience and knowledge.

I believe in local government, as it is the government closest to the people. Our local elected officials do their best to deliver vital services to their constituents in every corner of the state. I became more actively involved in Republican Party politics in 2010, when I ran for the first of four terms I served as precinct committeeman for the Elmore County Republican Party. I was elected vice-chair of the county party in 2014, and served as Legislative District 23 Chair from 2014-2016. I have been keeping myself informed about Idaho politics and the Idaho legislature since I cast my first vote at the age of 18 in the fall of 1984.

Having lived a very rural lifestyle for the first 18 years of my life, and having lived in a city for the past 34 years, I have an ability to understand the needs of those who cherish a remote rural lifestyle as well as the requirements for orderly growth and use of land in the close quarters of a city.

I consistently vote with our majority Republican Caucus in the Idaho Senate, departing only when I believe a bill is flawed or has an unintended consequence and I was unable to get it amended to fix my objections.

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

Schroeder: Emergency Medical Services and first responders in our rural counties face critical limits on funding and getting qualified staffing. The current local property tax funding model leaves areas of our state without adequate service, putting lives at risk in medical emergencies. When out of area visitors increase demand for limited EMS resources, local taxpayers suffer from service reductions. Adopting a statewide funding model along with a uniform staffing and training model makes the most sense to preserve our vital recreation industry while ensuring our local residents don’t suffer due to increased demands. I strongly supported a bill that would help solve this problem, and will be supporting it in the next legislative session. Providing job opportunities for our graduating students is important, and I supported the Launch program to provide training to further improve outcomes for our youth and increase employment, further strengthening our economy.

Zito: The Second Amendment is always under attack, With my last breath I will defend, protect and work to restore full second amendment rights. Our first freedoms are what set us apart as “the land of the free, and the home of the brave.” As I speak with hundreds of veterans of so many wars, conflicts, deployments, and divisions of the military, I am fully aware of the sacrifice of life, body parts, heart, soul, and family that has been made to keep us free.

Strong families, make strong communities and a strong nation. Being independent from government handouts, folks having the ability to use money as they see fit to help neighbors, strengthen churches without the government taking their tax dollars and deciding for them is one of the most important issues in this country and state today.

Protecting our babies and our children is the most important thing we must do in this life. Shame on us to allow the sacrifice of the unborn, and the sacrifice of the reproductive future of our children.

Idahoans want to be left alone to care for their families. They want to own their homes and pay their own way and their way forward. I will not vote to raise taxes or grow government.

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

Zito: While serving I hold Cookies with Christy across my Legislative District, I take phone calls, and answer emails. I listen to the concerns of everyone, I have found that common ground can be found. I always listen.

Schroeder: I return every call placed, and I love engaging with constituents who reach out to me on issues important to them. Even when we disagree, we can have a conversation that helps each of us better understand the other’s position. Rather than throw gasoline on the fire of our disagreements, I choose to highlight areas where we can agree and work together toward solutions to real problems, and set aside our differences on other, frequently less important issues manufactured by out of state special interests.

I was raised on rural Idaho values: hard work, facing adversity and challenges head-on, and accepting responsibility for one’s actions. I have these values in common with a majority of my constituents and I enjoy engaging with them one-on-one in person, over the phone, or via email.

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

Schroeder: Our education system requires a stable and reliable funding source. The costs to deliver a quality and uniform education system have increased faster than our State’s appropriations, resulting in higher supplemental levies at the local level, and increasing burdens on local taxpayers for a system that is supposed to be uniform across the state. We need to devote more resources to our education system, and have taken a big step in that direction with House bill 521 in funding local school facilities. I think Idaho’s joint budget committee has done a good job in weeding out frivolous spending and am always looking for suggestions in where cuts can be made without jeopardizing vital services.

Zito: Nothing it the state budget could use more funding. Unless we could approve a true school choice program. I would happily fund that. There are several areas that budget cuts can be made, in the last 5 years, government spending has increased nearly 60%. Our population has not.

The DHW budget is beyond huge. Medicaid expansion is fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse. We spend hundreds of millions on ineligible recipients.

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.

Zito: I will be working on legislation to strengthen our stand your ground protection. I will be working on legislation to protect Idahoans from the rampant invasion of our borders (see #8). Most important I will vote as a true constitutional conservative there is nothing more important that the votes I cast.

Schroeder: As a prosecutor, I would like to see a simple standard for drug DUI cases, like there is for alcohol DUI cases. Having a clear standard for drug DUIs will make it easier to bring those who jeopardize our safety to justice.

I introduced legislation to include schools in the development impact fee statute, a glaring omission that has been left on the books too long. I have also examined legislation that would allow property tax payers to have a more transparent analysis of exemptions, and exactly how much those exemptions increase the individual payer’s tax bill, in addition to evaluating the exemption against the demands it places on the taxing entity.

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

Schroeder: I believe the legislature has passed bills in the interest of “going home” that ought to have been better debated and amended before passage. I think the bill limiting property tax base increases to no more than 8% has a negative effect on small rural communities, many of which are struggling to deliver services and who rely on future growth to fund improvements to water, sewer, fire, and street systems.I would correct those errors by encouraging more detailed analyses of bills, and encouraging proponents to actively engage those who seek to correct potential unintended consequences. I have been successful in doing this with several bills the past two sessions and have colleagues who now seek my input when they receive concerns about their bills. I think this is one of the most important things I am able to do, and I think it is very effective in preventing future mistakes like we have seen over the years.

Zito: Almost half of Idaho’s budget comes from federal funding. Every dollar has a mandate attached. Idaho has lost its sovereignty as a state, the decision-making authority has been traded to policy makers in DC agencies. If the state has no sovereignty, then the people don’t either.

It is imperative that we wean ourselves from these federal dollars, they are not a gift, they are not free money, they are our tax dollars.

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

Zito: In addition to the issues stated above the border crisis affects the daily life of every Idahoan. Those in this country illegally add stress to taxpayer funded essential services. We see increased crime against citizens across the country.

Human trafficking is hidden in the massive influx daily of those coming into this country illegally and in mass, this is a humanitarian crisis.

We see skyrocketing fentanyl deaths. Increased demand for goods and social services is fueling additional inflation.

To fix this problem the State of Idaho must enter an interstate compact with other states to secure the border: Publish immigration status with crime statistics, deny state funding to municipalities that refuse to enforce immigration law. Deny state benefits and services to non-citizens and non-legal residents (HB615 – 2024 Session). Tax federal subsides of NGO’s and individuals facilitating the migrant invasion.

Schroeder: Education funding, water allocation, and transportation infrastructure are all three very important issues facing Idahoans. Our role as legislators is to ensure that we fulfill our constitutional duties toward education, and that we properly fund all three to keep Idaho’s economy thriving like it has in the past.