Districts 30 to 32: Who is funding legislative candidates in Bonneville, Bingham, Jefferson, Fremont, Clark, Butte and Lemhi
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IDAHO FALLS – As the primary races come to a close on Tuesday, many voters are still wondering who they will support on the ballot. To help, we’ve researched the PACs, companies, and notable individuals funding the contested Idaho primary campaigns this year for Districts 30, 31, and 32.
District 30 covers Butte and Bingham counties, District 31 covers Lemhi, Clark, Fremont, and Jefferson counties, and District 32 covers the area of Bonneville County surrounding the city of Idaho Falls and extending to the western boundary of the county. Most of Idaho Falls is in District 33.
The race is still ongoing, meaning the funding numbers for each candidate could change by election day.
All of our information is coming from the Sunshine, Idaho’s Campaign Finance System on VoteIdaho.gov.
Who is running for Senate?
The only contested Idaho Senator race in Districts 30 to 34 is in District 30. The Republican incumbent, Idaho Sen. Julie VanOrden, is running against Republican Ethan Neff for the party’s nomination.
The senator’s races in Districts 31, 32, 33, and 34 are uncontested in the primary, meaning there is only one Republican or one Democrat in each race. In this case, all the Republicans are incumbents.
District 30 Senator
Republican Julie VanOrden, incumbent
VanOrden is in her second term as Idaho Senator for District 30.
According to her legislative biography, she is the co-owner of Garth VanOrden Farms, a former Idaho House representative, former chairman of the House Education committee, and former commissioner on the Idaho Public Charter School Commission and the Idaho Potato Commission.
VanOrden is currently the chair of the Idaho State Health and Welfare Committee and also serves on the Senate Finance Committee.
As of May 14, VanOrden has received $38,100 in in-state contributions and $11,600 in out-of-state contributions. There are also six $50 contributions labeled “unitemized.”
Twenty-one of her 95 donations were from Political Action Committees (PACs).
PACs are political committees organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates, according to OpenSecrets.
Many of those who donated to VanOrden are agricultural-related, such as the Idaho Potato Industry PAC, the Idaho Loggers PAC, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, the Idaho Cattle PAC, and the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation PAC.
Many others are medical-related, such as the Idaho Medical Political Action Committee, PNW PhRMA PAC, the Idaho Hospital Association PAC, and the CareSource Mission PAC.
VanOrden also has many local companies contributing to her campaign, including the JR Simplot Company, St. Luke’s Health Plan Inc., Idaho Power Company, New Balance, 3 J Ranch LLC and Mountain View Hospital LLC.
Out-of-state contributors include companies such as Allstate Insurance Company, Johnson & Johnson, Anheuser-Busch Companies, UnitedHealth Group, Eli Lilly and Company, Delamar Mining Co, and Medical Insurance Exchange of California.
Notable donors
Ardent Health Services LLC, based in Tennessee, and Blue Cross of Idaho and Regence, all donated to VanOrden’s campaign.
Ardent Health Services LLC co-owns Portneuf Medical Center, a Pocatello hospital, with the Portneuf Health Trust. The hospital and Regence BlueShield of Idaho recently announced that they are in intense contract negotiations, which could cause many southeast Idahoans to lose Portneuf Medical Center as an in-network health care option.
RELATED | Contract dispute between PMC and Regence insurance could raise members’ health care costs
Other politicians and local business owners have also individually donated to VanOrden’s campaign, including Gavin Monteath, the Executive Director/CEO at Gateway Transitional Care Center in Pocatello, Idaho Sen. Treg Bernt from Meridian, Idaho Sen. Lori Den Hartog from Nampa, Bingham County Commissioner Whitney Manwaring, Idaho State Rep. Neil Anderson, Idaho State Rep. Britt Raybould, Raybould Brothers Farms LLC in Rexburg, Luke Malek, a Boise attorney, and Richard and Peggy Larsen, prominent Idaho farmers and owners of Larsen Hay in Dubois.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
Independent expenditures,according to the FEC, are expenditures for communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. These independent expenditures are not controlled directly by the candidate.
VanOrden’s supporters have spent $33,457.79 on her campaign’s advertising. The donors include the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, the Idaho Prosperity Fund, Hometown Heroes, and the Idaho REALTORS PAC.
Non-supporters of her campaign have spent $13.35 on advertising against her campaign. Her only current independent expenditure against her campaign is from Gregory Graf, the founder of Snake River Strategies and the polarizing Idaho media website, Political Potatoes.
RELATED | Idaho media site Political Potatoes aims to answer, ‘Who are the real Republicans?’
Republican Ethan Neff
Neff, a Blackfoot resident running against VanOrden, has received $7,907.78 in in-state contributions and $4,973.45 in out-of-state contributions.
Only one PAC, the Rhino Hunters of the Inland Northwest PAC, has donated to his campaign.
Notable donors
A few local companies have contributed to Neff, including SMC Properties LLC, the Lincoln Land Company, the Butte County Republican Central Committee, and Alpine Engineering.
The majority of Neff’s contributors to his campaign are from Idaho, though 12 of 38 are from out of state, mainly Washington and California, but including South Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Michigan, and Texas. Many of these individuals seem to be religious leaders, local business owners, and public school teachers and staff.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
Neff has had no independent expenditures.
District 30 – Representative Seat B
Republican Ben G. Fuhriman, incumbent
Fuhriman, the current Idaho Representative for District 30 B, has received $59,383.96 in in-state contributions, $5,575 in out-of-state contributions, and $15 in unitemized contributions.
Fuhriman is currently on the House Commerce & Human Resources, Environment, Energy & Technology, and Health & Welfare committees. Of Fuhriman’s 165 donors, 17 are PACs, mainly in medical/healthcare and agriculture, similar to VanOrden.
Also, like VanOrden, Regency and Mountain View Hospital have both donated to Fuhriman’s campaign.
Various local mental health-related organizations have flooded Fuhriman’s contributions, such as Tanabell Health Services, Mental Health Specialists LLC, and Tueller Counseling Services LLC.
The other donors include both local and out-of-state companies, such as the Medical Insurance Exchange of California, St. Luke’s Health Plan, Inc., in Boise, Teton Stage Lines in Idaho Falls, the Idaho Power Company, Idaho State Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen’s farm, Mickelsen Farms LLC, and Select Health in Utah.
Notable Donors
Idaho State Rep. Britt Raybould, City of Blackfoot City Council member Jan Simpson, Ginette Manwaring, a precinct committeewoman and state committee member on the Bingham County Republican Central Committee, and Idaho State Rep. Josh Wheeler, all donated to Fuhriman’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
Fuhriman’s independent expenditures show that Defend and Protect Idaho, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, the PAC for Public Lands, Hometown Heroes, the Idaho Prosperity Fund, and the Convention of States Action have spent $47,525 in advertising to support Fuhriman’s campaign.
Only one group, Snake River Strategies, has spent $13.35 on advertisements to oppose Fuhriman’s campaign.
Republican Julianne Young
Young is a former Idaho representative who served two terms in this same seat and lost to Fuhriman by four votes in 2024.
RELATED | Recount confirms Ben Fuhriman beats Rep. Julianne Young in narrow District 30 race
During her terms, she was the Vice Chair of the House State Affairs committee, and participated in the Environment, Energy, and Technology committee, the Ethics committee, the Judiciary, Rules, and Administration committee, the Senate State Affairs committee, the Joint Legislative Oversight committee, and the Senate Commerce and Human Resources committee.
As of May 14, she has received $34,422 of in-state contributions and $1,325 in out-of-state contributions.
Young has the most donors so far, with 107 PACs, companies, and individuals donating to her campaign. Only three of those are PACs, including the Idaho Summit PAC, Idaho Chooses Life, and Keep Idaho Great.
Like Neff, Young has also received donations from the Rhino Hunters of the Inland Northwest, but the majority of her donors are individuals.
Notable donors
Idaho Freedom Foundation board member Doyle Beck, Ron Crane, a former Idaho representative and former Idaho State Treasurer, Robert Boston, the manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Idaho Operations office, the Butte County Republican Central Committee, and the Custer County Republican Central Committee, have all donated to Young’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
According to the Idaho Sunshine Report, Young’s independent expenditures include $77,645.57 toward advertising to support her campaign by multiple PACs, including the Idaho Summit PAC, the 36-18-1 Inc. Political Action Committee, and the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC.
There has also been $29,795.17 spent on advertising to oppose her campaign. The groups that paid to oppose Young include Defend and Protect Idaho, Idaho First, and Snake River Strategies.
District 31 – Representative Seat B
Republican Rod Furniss, incumbent
Furniss, the incumbent for eight years, has received $40,021.70 in in-state donations and $3,750 in out-of-state donations.
He is currently the Vice Chair of the House Environment, Energy & Technology committee, and also sits on the House Appropriations and Business committees.
Of his 62 donors, 24 are PACs, many agricultural and medical, including Idaho Chooses Life, the Professional Firefighters of Idaho Political Action Committee, and the Idaho House Republican Caucus.
Notably, Furniss has also received contributions from many medical/healthcare-related donors, such as Regence, St. Luke’s Health Plan INC, the Healthcare Matters PAC, the Idaho Medical PAC, Medical Insurance Exchange of California, Professional Firefighters of Idaho PAC, and the Idaho Health Care Association PAC.
Furniss has also received contributions from the Idaho Beer & Wine Distributors Association (IBWDA) PAC, many agricultural donors, and large companies such as Micron, Idaho Power Company, and Melaleuca Inc.
Notable donors
The Coeur D’Alene Tribe, Idaho Rep. Britt Raybould, T Burtenshaw Farms LLC, Mickelsen Farms, LLC, Idaho Sen. Doug Ricks, Idaho Rep. James Petzke, Idaho State Rep. Jerald Raymond, and Idaho Sen. Van T Burtenshaw have all donated to Furniss’ campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
According to the Idaho Sunshine Report, supporters of Furniss have spent $47,516.39 in advertising to help his campaign. These supporters include the Idaho Majority Club, Defend and Protect Idaho, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, PAC for Public Lands, Idaho First, the Idaho Prosperity Fund, the Idaho REALTORS PAC, and Hometown Heroes.
No one has spent any advertising money against Furniss’ campaign.
Republican Karey Hanks
Hanks is a former Idaho representative for District 35, Seat B, and has received $34,181.07 of in-state contributions and $2,700 of out-of-state contributions.
During her time in office, she served on the House Agricultural Affairs, Commerce and Human Resources, and State Affairs committees.
Of her 111 donors, only two are PACs: the Idaho Freedom Caucus PAC and the Idaho Summit PAC.
The majority of Hanks’ in-state donations come from local individuals and companies, including Webb Management Services in Hailey, Kalisto Design LLC in Moscow, SMC Properties in Eagle, and KuKista in Idaho Falls. There are only a few out-of-state donors from North Carolina, Utah, and Washington.
Smith, Driscoll & Associates PLLC, a law firm in Idaho Falls, run by Bryan Smith, a board member with the Idaho Freedom Foundation, also donated to Hanks’ campaign.
Notable donors
Hanks has received thousands of dollars in donations from multiple employees from Money Metals Exchange.
According to their website, they are an online dealer that “helps customers switch their paper dollars into the safety of gold, silver bullion coins, bars.”
Idaho Freedom Foundation board member Doyle Beck, Idaho Sen. Tammy Nichols, former Idaho Rep. candidate Brett Skidmore, and current Jefferson County Commissioner candidate Danny Ferguson also donated to Hanks’ campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
As for independent expenditures, two groups, the Idaho Summit PAC and the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC, have spent $17,181.43 to support Hanks’ campaign.
Two different groups, Snake River Strategies and Idaho First, have spent $4083.54 in advertising to oppose Hanks’ candidacy in the election.
District 32 – Representative Seat A
Republican Stephanie Mickelsen, incumbent
Mickelsen has been the representative for District 34A since 2022, and has received $55,375 of in-state donations and $4,515 in out-of-state donations.
She is the CFO of Mickelsen Farms LLC and is currently on the House Environment, Energy & Technology, Resources & Conservation, and Revenue & Taxation committees.
Of her 90 donors, 18 are PACs, many of them medical-related, such as the Idaho Dental Political Action Committee, PNW PhRMA PAC, St. Luke’s Health Plan Inc, Idaho Hospital Association Political Action Committee, and the Boise Firefighters Local 149 PAC.
Many are also agricultural, like the Agriculture and Natural Resource Industry PAC, Idaho Cattle PAC, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation Political Action Committee, Idaho Seed Industry PAC, and the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers PAC.
And a few others are finance-related, like the IDABANKPAC (Idaho Bankers Association) and the UHFG (United Heritage Financial Group) PAC. Like Furniss, Mickelsen also received a donation from the Coeur D’Alene Tribe.
Some of the out-of-state donors include Clearwater Paper in Washington, the International Association of Firefighters in Washington, DC, PotlachDeltic in Washington, PacifiCorp and the Stimson Lumber Company in Oregon, PMI Global Services in California, and Maverik INC in Utah.
Notable donors
Idaho State Rep. Josh Wheeler, Scott Brown, the CEO of Sterling Urgent Care, Taylor Hale, the Director of Business Development for Sterling Medical LLC, Idaho Sen. Van Burtenshaw, Idaho Rep. Britt Raybould, Zak Miller, the CEO of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, and former Ammon mayor Sean Colleti all donated to Mickelsen’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
For Mickelsen’s independent expenditures, various groups, including Defend and Protect Idaho, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, and Hometown Heroes, have spent $15,153.29 in advertising to support her campaign.
Groups that oppose her candidacy, including Benjamin and Nicole Baker, the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC, and Snake River Strategies, have spent $7,076.36 in advertising against Mickelsen’s campaign.
Republican Kelly Golden
Golden has received $21,342 of in-state contributions and $1,100 of out-out-state contributions.
Of her 86 donations, four are PACS, including the ID Family PAC, the Rhino PAC, and the Idaho Summit PAC. Golden also received a donation from the East Idaho Patriots, a political organization.
The vast majority of Golden’s donations are from local individuals, besides one person in New Mexico and another in North Carolina. Golden also received a donation from the Custer County Republican Central Committee.
Notable donors
Jeffrey Alldridge, a former Idaho Falls mayoral candidate, and his wife Rene Alldridge, Tim Oren, the Managing Director at Pacifica Fund, Idaho Sen. Benjamin Toews, Idaho Sen. Tammy Nichols, Idaho Rep. Heather Scott, Stefan Gleason,, CEO of Money Metals Exchange, former Idaho Rep. candidate Brett Skidmore, and current candidate for Idaho House of Representatives District 33B, Jilene Burger, all donated to Golden’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
Benjamin and Nicole Baker, the Idaho Summit PAC, the 36-18-1 Inc. Political Action Committee, and the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC have spent $65,161.97 in advertising to support Golden’s campaign.
Two groups, the PAC for Public Lands and Snake River Strategies, have spent $28.05 in advertising to oppose Golden’s campaign.
District 32 – Representative Seat B
Republican Erin Bingham, incumbent
Bingham has received $46,395 of in-state contributions and $2,875 of out-of-state contributions.
In January, Bingham was appointed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little to take over for former Idaho Rep. Wendy Horman, who left the legislature for a job in the Trump administration.
Bingham is an accountant and currently serves on the House Commerce & Human Resources Committee, the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee, and the State Affairs Committee.
According to her campaign website, Bingham is a small-business owner in Idaho Falls, serving as the CFO of Bingham Ventures, her family’s real estate and development company.
Of her 107 donations, 24 are from PACs. Similar to VanOrden, Fuhriman, and Mickelsen, many of them are medical/healthcare and agriculture-related.
Bingham also received a donation from the Idaho Dental Political Action Committee. Bingham’s husband, Val Bingham, is an endodontist at Eastern Idaho Endodontists.
The majority of companies that donated to Bingham’s campaign are local, including Idaho Forest Group, ICELAC, HFI Management LLC, JR Simplot Company, and Griffin Construction. Only two out-of-state companies have donated to her campaign so far, including Rayonier in Washington and PacifiCorp in Utah.
Like many of the other incumbents, Bingham also received donations from Regence, St. Luke’s Health Plan Inc, the PNW PhRMA PAC, the Healthcare Matters PAC, the Idaho Medical Political Action Committee, and the Idaho Hospital Association PAC.
Notable donors
Multiple local medical professionals, attorneys from Idaho and Utah, Idaho Rep. Britt Raybould, Larry Williams, a prominent Boise-based businessman who founded the Idaho Timber Corporation, Bonneville County Commissioner Michelle Mallard, Idaho Falls Mayor Lisa Burtenshaw, Idaho Rep. Josh Wheeler, and former Idaho Falls city council candidate Stephanie Taylor-Thompson, all donated to Bingham’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
Defend and Protect Idaho, the Idaho Dairy Industry PAC, the Idaho Prosperity Fund, and Hometown Heroes have spent $27,431.67 in advertising to support Bingham’s campaign.
One group, Snake River Strategies, has paid $13.35 for advertising to oppose Bingham’s campaign.
Republican Brian McKellar
McKellar has received $18,085 in in-state contributions, $3,025 in out-of-state contributions, and $120 in unitemized contributions.
A number of McKellar’s donors are companies and individuals that sell, advocate for, or distribute kratom, a herbal substance that, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration, can cause psychotic symptoms and psychological and physiological dependence.
The donors include Happy Hippo LLC in Boise, its parent company Animal Farm Family, and that company’s additional real estate company, Animal Farm Real Estate LLC. Another notable donor in the vaping field is Ryan Muckenthaler, a member of Lotus Vaping Technologies in Boise.
The City of Idaho Falls is currently considering banning the sale of kratom within city limits, after the Bonneville County Coroner’s office issued a public health alert on the “dangerous and potentially fatal consequences of using kratom” in November.
RELATED | Idaho Falls considers banning local kratom sales
Of his 31 donations, two are PACs, the Idaho Summit PAC and East Idaho Patriot. Only two other companies have donated to McKellar’s campaign, including Smith, Driscoll & Associates PLLC in Idaho Falls, run by Idaho Freedom Foundation board member Bryan Smith, and The Bucker Company in Utah.
Notable donors
Terry Buckner, the CEO of the Buckner Company, Christopher Deoudes, the founder of Happy Hippo LLC, Idaho Freedom Foundation board memmer Doyle Beck and Nicholas Contos, the former Bonneville County Republican Central Committee Chairman, all donated to McKellar’s campaign.
Who is spending money to support/oppose?
The 36-18-1 Inc. Political Action Committee, the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC, and the Idaho Summit PAC have spent $26,357.37 in advertising to support McKellar’s campaign. So far, only Snake River Strategies has paid for advertising to oppose McKellar’s campaign, totaling $13.35.