Donations to Ada County candidates show donor enthusiasm in month before the election
With only days to go before this year’s election, campaign finance filings show which candidates are still pulling in dollars from donors — and which ones aren’t receiving many, or any, donations this cycle.
The attention from donors shed light on races that will likely decide which party controls the Ada County Commission, who will replace the longtime assessor, Bob McQuade, and whether the incumbent sheriff, Matt Clifford, will win the approval of voters for the first time.
Last month, we published a review of the past year of campaign spending. Read on for what’s new.
Commissioner, District 2
In District 2, Rod Beck, the incumbent commissioner, keeps raising significant funds. Beck has raised $6,600 over the last month, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.
Like many of his earlier donations, Beck has received large checks from local developers, including $1,000 from the Building Contractors Association of Southwest Idaho PAC, and $1,000 from Brighton Corp., a Meridian developer. Beck also received a $1,000 donation from the Lincoln Land Company, an Idaho Falls Company whose registered agent, Mark Fuller, is the agent of dozens of Idaho corporations, including the Fuller & Beck Law Office, a firm in Idaho Falls.
In September, Ahren and Tamia Tryon donated $1,000 to his campaign. Ahren is the CEO of LFG Development, a Texas landfill company that oversees operations at the Ada County Landfill and owns an electricity plant in Boise.
Beck’s Democratic opponent, Stan Ridgeway, has raised half as much as Beck over the last month. Ridgeway has accumulated $3,300, with $1,000 donations from David Pate, former president and CEO of St. Luke’s Health System, and A.J. Balukoff, a former Boise School District trustee.
Ridgeway is the former mayor of Eagle.
Pate, a lifelong Republican, told the Statesman that he has donated to multiple Democratic candidates in Ada County this cycle because of his disapproval of the County Commission’s appointment of Dr. Ryan Cole to the Central District Health board, a move supported by Beck and Commissioner Ryan Davidson — who is not up for reelection this year — and opposed by Kenyon.
Cole, a pathologist with a lab in Garden City, has spread false information about COVID-19 and is under investigation by the Washington Medical Commission for allegedly improperly prescribing drugs to patients and for spreading misleading information about masks and COVID-19 vaccines.
Pate said that not only had Beck supported Cole’s appointment, but Beck has continued to support Cole since then.
“It’s become absolutely clear since (Cole’s appointment) that the nonsense that he espoused is not true and has been scientifically disproven, and yet (Beck) made no effort to take him off the public health board,” Pate said. “That’s why he’s got to go.”
In a phone interview, Beck told the Statesman the pathologist’s controversial opinions have not interfered with the health board’s business.
“What difference does it make if they’re doing a good job, if one person has made some controversial statements?” Beck said. He added that, “I don’t know that much about his statements. I do think that a lot of the things our society did during this pandemic have not proved out to be good for the society,” citing keeping children out of in-person school as an example.
Last year, Cole was appointed to a five-year term. Beck said he does not know whether he would vote to reappoint Cole.
Commissioner, District 3
In District 3, three candidates are vying to fill a seat that incumbent Kendra Kenyon is leaving this term, after she announced in February that she would not run again, citing a threatening political environment.
Patricia Nilsson, a Democrat who has worked in land use planning for several local government, has raised $2,100. Pate has donated $1,000 to her campaign, as has John Starr, a Boise real estate agent.
Nilsson’s Republican opponent, Tom Dayley, is pulling in more than Nilsson, with $5,105 raised in the last month.
Dayley, a former member of the Idaho House and an aid to Republicans in Congress, has received big dollars from Boise developers — $1,000 from Brookside Developers, and another $1,000 from Cody Hunter — as well as the Idaho Land Fund, a major Republican donor. A lobbyist, Russ Westerberg, donated $550, and the Idaho Conservation Growth Fund, another major Republican donor, gave $500.
Anthony Jones, an independent candidate in that race, has not filed campaign donations, according to state records.
Sheriff
In the sheriff’s race, incumbent Matthew Clifford, a Republican who was appointed to the position in the summer of 2021, has out-fundraised his Democratic opponent, Victor McCraw, 21-fold.
Clifford has raised $1,050, and McCraw has raised $50.
Assessor
Rebecca Arnold, Republican candidate to replace the retiring Bob McQuade, has raised the most of any candidate for an Ada County government position over the last month, pulling in $9,000, including a $2,000 personal loan.
Arnold has received $1,000 donations from Winston Moore, a developer, and Neal Russell, a Meridian contractor. She has also received $1,000 each from Dr. William Houston Jr., Dr. Michael Myhre, Trounson LLC — a Boise business — and Grant L. Petersen Jr., the CEO of Bronco Motors car dealership.
Arnold’s Democratic opponent, Erik Steven Berg, has not been fundraising.
Coroner
The last month of donations in the coroner’s race have all been personal. Dotti Owens, the incumbent Democrat, donated $5,000 to her campaign. Rich Riffle, her Republican opponent, donated $32 to himself.
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Elizabeth Mahn, a Republican, is running unopposed for county treasurer.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 1:58 PM.
