3 attorneys seek Ada County judgeship — but one of them may be unqualified
No matter your political affiliation for the primary election, you can always vote on judges.
Usually placed at the end of the ballot, judge elections typically don’t receive much attention from voters, unless they are well-versed in the state’s legal landscape. And, they’re commonly uncontested races.
Not this year.
Voters in parts of Idaho, including the Boise area, will have to decide between two — or even three — candidates for several open district judge seats in the May primary on Tuesday. The three-way race is in Ada County.
Those candidates — David Morse, Jeffrey Street and Greg Woodard — are on the ballot to fill a single district court position in Idaho’s 4th Judicial District, which encompasses Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties. Lynn Norton, who isn’t seeking reelection, holds the position, handling cases in Ada County after being appointed, and later elected, in 2011.
The other dozen district judges, including Steven Hippler, who rose to national attention while presiding over Bryan Kohberger’s criminal case, are all running unopposed. The judgeships, four-year nonpartisan positions, handle felony-level criminal cases and civil cases exceeding $10,000.
To qualify for the job, candidates must be at least 30 years old; a U.S. citizen; a resident of Idaho; registered to vote; and licensed to practice law for at least a decade before the election. One candidate — Morse — doesn’t quite meet one of those requirements.
Earning his law degree from the University of Idaho, Morse, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was admitted to the Idaho State Bar on Oct. 6, 2016, a little over four months short of the 10-year license prerequisite. Despite that, his candidacy application was approved by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, according to online campaign records.
Morse didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Wednesday.
Joe Parris, a spokesperson for the secretary of state, acknowledged the oversight in a statement to the Idaho Statesman. The Secretary of State’s Office reviewed the law and consulted with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, which agreed that candidates for a judgeship are required to have 10 years of experience.
However, since voting is already underway, the Secretary of State’s Office decided that no action will be taken before Tuesday, Parris wrote.
If none of the candidates receive a majority of the vote, the race would go to a run-off during the general election in November, Parris explained. And Morse would be eligible for the position by then.
“The applicable statutes do not clearly resolve which election date controls for purposes of determining eligibility in these circumstances,” Parris wrote. “Depending on the outcome of the May 19 election, further legal review may be required.”
The other candidates, Street and Woodard, each have over a decade of experience as attorneys, with Woodard having 26-plus years, primarily in private practice. He has spent the past three years working in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.
Street graduated from the University of Idaho in 2012, and now works for Lister Frost Injury Lawyers, handling personal injury, medical malpractice and other types of civil litigation.
What to know about judicial elections in Idaho
Idaho has seven judicial districts, which represent anywhere from a few to nearly a dozen counties, depending on the region. And this year, four of those districts have contested elections — in Shoshone, Madison and Caribou counties.
There are a total of 13 district judgeships in the 4th Judicial District, most of which handle criminal and civil cases in Ada County, the state’s most populous area. Two of the judges, Theodore Fleming and Jason Scott, oversee proceedings in the remaining three counties.
Each county also has magistrate judges who handle the bulk of cases, like lower-level criminal and civil cases, along with traffic violations and citations. Even those facing the most severe charges appear before a magistrate judge before their case can be bound over to the district court.
Judges can also be appointed to the position depending on the timing of a vacancy. For a new magistrate judge, they’ll be appointed to the position for an 18-month probationary period before facing an uncontested election, where voters will decide whether the judge should be retained.
Idaho attorneys weigh in on judicial candidates in survey
Attorneys from all over the state rated the judicial candidates’ qualifications, including their knowledge and understanding of the law, in a survey conducted by the Idaho State Bar. For those in the contested Ada County race, Street had the highest overall score.
Of the 873 respondents, no more than a couple of hundred people responded to each candidates’ questionnaire as participants were asked to leave parts of the survey blank if they didn’t know the candidate. For the races in Ada County, Street and Morse received around 140 responses each, while Woodard received about 60 responses for each question.
Street, in an interview with the Statesman editorial board, highlighted his extensive litigation experience, which he said was more relevant than ever as the state — particularly in the 4th Judicial District — has seen an increase in civil cases, with more than 93,000 new cases from July 2024 through June 2025.
“They’re complex civil litigation matters,” he said. “That is my wheelhouse, and has been since I left law school.”
More than 100 people agreed that Street exceeded expectations when it came to his integrity and independence, understanding of the law, temperament and legal experience, according to the survey results. He had an overall score of 3.48 out of 4. Morse was next with a score of 3.1, while Woodard had a score of 2.54.
Woodard touted his more than two decades of experience working as an attorney as why he’s uniquely qualified for the position in his editorial board interview. He added that he has developed a temperament of working with both sides of the courtroom.
“I’m zealously representing my client, and the other side is supposed to do the same,” he said, “but we can do that and be civil with each other and it doesn’t have to be a battle.”
Through his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, and as a federal prosecutor, Morse said in the editorial board interview, he understands the importance of serving his community.
“I have that courtroom experience,” he said. “I have the understanding of what matters in a courtroom.”
With a score of 3.66, the candidate with the highest overall rating and the most respondents was 7th District Judge Steven Boyce, who presides over criminal cases in East Idaho. He’s best-known for presiding over Lori and Chad Daybell’s criminal cases.
