Republican legislators retain control of District 28
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POCATELLO — All three incumbent District 28 legislators have retained their seats in the Idaho Legislature.
By the end of election night, it was clear that Sen. Jim Guthrie, Rep. Rick Cheatum and Rep. Dan Garner had retained their seats in the Idaho Senate and House of Representatives. And while the races opened up tight, the margins of victory grew to comfortable leads later in the night.
“I am very humbled to be able to serve as your representative for District 28 again for another couple of years … and feel very honored to be able to serve,” Garner said. Guthrie and Cheatum were not immediately available for comment Tuesday night.
As of midnight that night, no absentee ballots in Bannock County had been reported, Bannock County Elections Director Julie Hancock confirmed. And for District 28, Cheatum pointed out that those ballots would likely come largely from the Chubbuck-area.
And while Cheatum said, “it’s far from over so far,” he agreed that margins were wide enough at that point that he felt safe.
“You know, I guess I feel somewhat rewarded with the four years I’ve spent in the House, that I’m doing the right thing for a majority of the people, and I’m looking forward to the next two years,” Cheatum said.
Guthrie was not immediately able to comment.
District 28 encompasses over 2,000 square miles, including the entirety of Power and Franklin counties, much of rural Bannock County, the majority of Chubbuck and portions of Pocatello. The district’s legislators represent around 51,200 residents.
As of midnight, the results showed that Guthrie, who was challenged by Mandy Peace, netted 67% of the vote to her 33%, with 5,026 and 2,456 votes to each candidate.
For House Seat A, Cheatum earned 64% to challenger Kim Jackman’s 36%, with 4,730 and 2,709 votes respectively. And in the race for House Seat B, Garner brought in 66% of the vote to challenger Jayson Meline’s 34%, with 4,929 and 2,512 votes respectively.
For Garner, water rights and state sovereignty will be issues at the top of his mind in the next legislative session.
“Water is going to be a very important subject for this next session and next couple years, and so I’m … (going to) try and make sure that the state sovereignty is still intact and that we keep our water rights and our water in Idaho,” Garner said.