No change in leadership in District 33 as incumbents keep their seats
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — The incumbents in District 33 had a successful election night on Tuesday.
District 33 encompasses the majority of Idaho Falls.
As of 11 p.m., some absentee ballots have not been counted, but this article reflects the expected winners. We will update the numbers when they are complete.
Senate
In the Senate race, incumbent Republican Dave Lent won to keep his seat for the next two years.
Lent won with 56% (7,234 votes), over Democrat Jan Brown, who earned 44% (5,724 votes), which is much closer than many expected.
This will be Lent’s fifth term in his role.
“I appreciate the opportunity the people of District 33 give me, that I get to serve them,” Lent tells EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s an honor and a privilege to serve the people of District 33, and my goal is to maintain the values and community that help make Idaho Falls such a great place to live.”
House 33A
By just a few percentage points, Republican Barbara Ehardt won a contentious race to keep her spot as Representative in District 33A.
Ehardt won with 53% (6,946 votes), over Democrat Chance Marshall who earned 47% (6,142 votes).
Regarding the exceptional voter turnout, Ehardt told EastIdahoNews.com that she believes the economy was the reason so many people took their time to go to the polls on Tuesday.
“Voter turnout has been more like a presidential turnout, we actually anticipated that, and to be honest, we felt like if we didn’t have this high turnout, it might hurt republicans more,” said Ehardt. “I’m completely pleased to come out and see this many people vote.”
This will be Ehardt’s fifth full term as an Idaho representative.
Representative 33B
Republican Marco Erickson has defeated his opponent in the race to keep his spot as Representative in District 33B.
Erickson won with 57% (7,289 votes) of the vote, over Democrat Todd DeVries who earned 43% (5,587 votes) of the vote.
“I think that a lot of the things that drew out people was the economy and the need for updating some of the conversations we’re needing to have across the country,” Erickson told EastIdahoNews.com. “That’s what we’re seeing in some of the national elections right now, is people care about housing, their cost of living, and it’s definitely an interesting race. I’m glad Idaho came out strong.”
This term will mark Erickson’s fourth term as an Idaho representative.
For more updates on the general election, click here.