Are Ada County’s roads a ‘primary’ concern? Bill seeks partisan ACHD elections

Is Ada County’s traffic a partisan issue? It could be if the Idaho Legislature passes a proposal to change the way the countywide highway district elects its commissioners.

A new bill would change the way voters pick Ada County Highway District commissioners to mirror the way they elect county commissioners. That means a May primary — and a party declaration — for candidates.

Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog of Meridian introduced the idea, recycling language from a bill that House Speaker Mike Moyle of Star brought to the floor in 2025. That bill passed the House easily — only two Republicans joined Treasure Valley Democrats in opposing it — but it never got a Senate vote.

This time, Den Hartog is working with fellow Republican Joe Palmer, also of Meridian, chairman of the House Transportation and Defense Committee, to push the legislation through.

The Senate State Affairs Committee on Friday voted to let the proposal become a bill.

Senate Bill 1229 would require candidates to advance through a party primary to be nominated for the general election. It would also allow every voter in a county to vote for all highway district commissioners, though each commissioner would have to reside within the zone he or she aims to represent.

As it stands, voters pick only their direct commissioner; if you live in Zone 4, for example, your ballot only lists the Zone 4 candidates.

The change would mirror the way county commissioners are elected throughout the state.

“The process by which county commissioners are elected is well-understood and ensures that countywide commissioners are elected on the broadest possible basis,” Den Hartog and Palmer state in the bill’s statement of purpose.

But it wouldn’t mirror the way highway district commissioners are elected in other counties. Those races would remain nonpartisan.

The draft legislation changes the rules only for countywide highway districts in counties that exceed 200,000 people. Idaho has two counties with populations that large: Ada and Canyon.

Ada is the only county in Idaho that operates under a single highway district, created by frustrated voters in 1971 to replace the rural highway districts and city street departments still used in Canyon and other counties. According to ACHD, it’s the only countywide district in the entire country.

How ACHD’s commissioners are chosen as of now

Right now, ACHD’s five commissioners are all locally elected to four-year terms through nonpartisan races. That just means you don’t see an “R” or “D” next to their names on the ballot — not that they aren’t registered with a party in their personal lives.

Commissioner Kent Goldthorpe is a Republican, according to his profile on the state GOP website. Board President Miranda Gold ran for State Senate as a Democrat in 2016. And Commissioner Patricia Nilsson ran for the Ada County Board of Commissioners as a Democrat in 2022. (Commissioners Alexis Pickering and Dave McKinney haven’t run for office in a partisan race or otherwise publicized their party affiliation.)

If the system changes, they’ll have to compete in spring primaries to earn a party’s nomination for the ballot.

Den Hartog and Palmer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did the ACHD.

Once printed, the bill still needs to go through committee before receiving a vote on the Senate floor.

This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 1:38 PM.