2022 Ada County primary election Voter Guide: What Republican candidates have to say
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Statesman Voter Guide
Get informed for the May 17 primary election. We surveyed candidates for contested statewide offices, Treasure Valley legislative districts, county positions and federal offices.
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It’s a busy election in nearly every sector of Idaho politics, and Ada County is no exception. That’s why the Idaho Statesman created this Voter Guide.
Voters in the May 17 primary elections will decide among 11 candidates in four countywide races for the county commissioner, sheriff, assessor and coroner.
No more than one Democratic candidate is running for any county office, so only Republicans are on the county portion of the ballot.
Ada County Commissioner, District 3: One of the more competitive races will be to replace the commission’s lone Democrat, Kendra Kenyon, who’s not seeking a second term. Her District 3 covers all of Ada County south of I-84 and outside Boise city limits, although all Ada County residents can vote in this race.
Three Republicans will square off in the primary before facing Democrat Patricia Nilsson, a retired land use planner, in the general election. Commissioner Rod Beck, representing District 2, is running unopposed in the primary.
Voters may recognize a couple names on ballot already — former Ada County commissioner Sharon Ullman, whom Kenyon roundly defeated in the 2018 election. Former state Rep. Thomas Dayley, who served from 2012 to 2019, is also running. He left the Legislature to take a position at the Farm Service Agency under former President Donald Trump.
The final candidate is Dawn Retzlaff, who served for 30 years in law enforcement before moving to Ada County, according to her page with the Idaho Republican Party. Retzlaff did not respond to the Idaho Statesman’s questionnaire.
Ada County Sheriff: Perhaps the most high-profile race in the county, the Republican primary for sheriff will see a repeat of 2021’s top candidates when the Ada County Commission had to hire a replacement for Steve Bartlett, who resigned suddenly.
The commission’s choice, Matthew Clifford, is now seeking his first elected term. He has had to grapple with an overcrowded jail and staff shortages, a problem plaguing police forces across the country.
Doug Traubel is Clifford’s challenger in the primary. Traubel had stints working in law enforcement in Southern California and in Ada County, where he moved in the 1990s. But recently, he’s become more well known for his right-wing writings. He has said Jewish people were to blame for the start of the Soviet Union, that Black people “born after 1965 know nothing about true racism,” and that single mothers and that Marxist values have led to an increase in the number of single mothers. His writings became a sticking point with some county commissioners during public interviews.
Ada County Assessor: Four Republicans seek to succeed Bob McQuade, who has held the job for 28 years and is retiring. The victor will face Democrat Laurie Barrera.
The Assessor’s Office oversees all property valuations in the county as close to market value, a tall order in a rapidly changing and tightening housing market in the Treasure Valley.
Ron DeRoest is running after six years as deputy assessor. Rebecca Arnold, a Boise lawyer, is a former member of the Ada County Highway District Commission and ran an unsuccessful campaign for Boise mayor in 2019. Bradley Bolicek is a Boise real estate agent at Silvercreek Realty making his first bid for elected office. Dave Litster, a Boise businessman and a GOP precinct committeeman, is also running.
Ada County Coroner: Two Republicans hope to challenge incumbent Democrat Dotti Owens.
Rich Riffle is a former police officer and deputy medical examiner who served on a city council in a Portland suburb. Cheri Durst, the wife of former state legislator Branden Durst, has not held elected office before.
Cheri Durst is facing a misdemeanor injury to child charge in Washington state after her husband’s ex-wife accused her of hitting a 14-year-old child. She has pleaded not guilty and declined the Statesman’s request in March to interview her about it.
The Idaho Statesman sent questions to all the candidates. Below are four sets of Q&As with their responses, unedited except when candidates exceeded an answer’s 100-word limit.
Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each Q&A as needed to read the full Q&A.
Learn more about this race and other local elections at IdahoStatesman.com/Voter-Guide.
Commissioner, District 3
Sheriff
Assessor
Coroner
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 11:40 AM.
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