Seeking third term, Little cruises to victory in Republican primary for Idaho governor
Incumbent Brad Little handily won the Republican primary for governor, according to unofficial election results released Wednesday morning by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Little, who is running for his third term as governor, faced seven opponents in the Tuesday primary. His challengers include Sean Calvert Crystal, Mark Fitzpatrick, Daniel C. Fowler, Ethan Giles, Ron James, Lisa Marie and Justin R. Plante.
With all counties reporting Wednesday morning, Little had 140,769 votes, or 59% of the vote.
Little’s closest opponent, Mark Fitzpatrick, had 68,542 votes, or 28.7% of the vote. Fitzpatrick won one county: Adams.
During an event Tuesday night with other Republican candidates, Little celebrated the state and his record, and thanked his family and supporters for putting their faith in him for another term.
“Together, we’ve made bold decisions that have strengthened our economy and defended our freedoms. We’ve kept Idaho a beacon of hope, of prosperity for this generation and also for the next,” he told a crowd of supporters at The Grove Hotel.
The event room was covered in green and yellow signs for Little, and other statewide officials, including State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke.
When Little took the stage, he noted the state has experienced record growth, and with that, he said, comes its own challenges.
“We must meet this moment with the same grit and determination that built this state from the ground up,” he said.
During his time as governor, Little has championed investments in education and programs that seek to improve the number of Idaho students who go on to higher education or other workforce training programs. He also has pushed for tax cuts. Over the past several years, Little also has signed into law a series of bills targeting transgender people, including Idaho’s recently passed bathroom bill that makes it a misdemeanor, and then a felony, to use a bathroom or changing room that doesn’t align with someone’s sex assigned at birth.
He said if reelected, he would continue to “prioritize investments in education, workforce expansion and critical infrastructure in order to meet the needs of our growing state,” according to the Idaho Statesman’s Voter Guide. Little raised more money than his competitors by a large margin.
In an interview with the Statesman, he said the state is facing different challenges than it was when he first came into office.
“All the initiatives we have, education, transportation infrastructure, housing affordability, those are all because of our growth, which is different than when I first got this job,” he said.
He said the atmosphere has changed over the past several years. When asked about the large field of competitors this year, Little said it was understandable.
“Being the governor is a pretty good job,” he said.
Some of his opponents have attacked his record, including Fitzpatrick, an entrepreneur who moved to Idaho from California eight years ago. Fitzpatrick said Little has “turned his back on Idahoans” and has gone after the governor on social media, often referring to him as a RINO, or Republican in name only.
In a video posted to X earlier this month, Little said some of Fitzpatrick’s supporters are “straight racist” and “just hate Mexican people.” The governor didn’t appear to know he was being filmed.
Other candidates in the Republican primary have called for increased transparency, investments in Idaho’s children and stricter immigration enforcement.
Who won the Democratic race?
In the Democratic primary, Terri Pickens won with 61% of the votes against three opponents: Maxine Durand, Jill Kirkham, and Chanelle Torrez.
Idaho has not elected a Democratic governor in decades, and has a Republican supermajority in the Legislature.
Pickens, an attorney, has said her priorities include creating a strong and resilient economy, which includes Medicaid expansion and investments in public schools. She also called for “no more culture war bills.”
“This nonsense will get a real fight,” she wrote in the Statesman’s Voter Guide, referring to issues like book bans and “bullying LGBTQ+ folks.” “And if it makes it to my desk, it will get a veto.”
On Tuesday night, as she held a strong lead, Pickens remained optimistic about this year’s governor’s race, saying people in Idaho “have finally started to see the light.”
“They finally started to see that the GOP supermajority is not working for them anymore,” she told the Idaho Statesman. “The GOP supermajority, particularly Brad Little, is working for the wealthy few, and it’s leaving working families behind. It’s leaving schoolchildren behind. It’s leaving the LGBTQ community behind.”
She said she believes people are looking for a change and urged residents to look beyond party affiliation.
“For those people who are straight ticket voting, I would ask them a rhetorical question: ‘How is this working out for you?’” she said. “How is your bank balance? How is the gas in your car? How is your house affordability?”
She promised if elected governor, she would make Idaho more affordable for working families.
Other Democratic candidates said their priorities included improving healthcare, prioritizing affordable housing and fixing Idaho’s budget. They have also opposed bills that target transgender people and teachers unions.
Two Libertarian candidates also squared off in the primary: Melissa Sue Robinson and Paul Sand. Sand won that race with about 57% of the vote.
A total of 17 candidates filed to run for the position among all parties and independents.
Emily Carmela Nelson contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 9:50 PM.
