A longtime and prominent community volunteer, Cherie Buckner-Webb works these days as an executive coach. Her company’s goal is to teach professionals “to navigate the waters of their lives with purpose.”
Sounds like pretty good life experience to bring to the Idaho Senate — especially for a Democrat likely to face the current of a large GOP majority. Buckner-Webb, a two-year House member, gets our endorsement in the open Senate seat in North Boise’s legislative District 19.
Buckner-Webb’s first-term voting record didn’t stray too much from the Democrats’ platform. She opposed the three Students Come First laws, opposed the cuts in corporate and personal income taxes (a long-term tax cut funded with one-time surplus money), and opposed a bill that would have required women to undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion.
But political success is also the art of persuasion — and coalition-building. Buckner-Webb has the background to do this in the Senate.
Buckner-Webb’s Republican opponent, Paul Nelson O’Leary, is a retired Army officer who has served in Iraq and the Middle East. However, some of his positions are troubling. He opposes a health insurance exchange, an online marketplace for consumers to shop for coverage, and though many in his party have rethought their position on the much-maligned ultrasound bill, O’Leary remains in support.
MATHEW ERPELDING, HOLLI HIGH WOODINGS
In two open races for the House, Democrats Erpelding and Woodings are strong, solid picks.
Both would bring some good political credentials to the Statehouse. Erpelding has been active in local party circles, and worked as an aide during the 2012 legislative session. His life experience should also inform his politics. As a college instructor, he should bring a strong knowledge base to the debate over education reform, which will continue regardless of the outcome of the Students Come First referendums. As a small-business owner, he will be well-positioned for the coming debate over repealing the “personal property tax” businesses pay on furnishings, equipment and supplies.
Woodings is the owner of a public relations firm working with renewable energy firms, giving her perspective in the ongoing debate over Idaho’s energy portfolio. She has also been active — in grass-roots and nonpartisan local politics — as president of the active North End Neighborhood Association.
Winners of two hard-fought party primaries, Erpelding and Woodings are promising newcomers.
