Who’s running for Ada County Highway District? What the candidates have to say

The race for two seats on the Ada County Highway District’s Board of Commissioners could be one of the most closely watched local elections of 2024 — and for good reason.

The influential and powerful board has a wide reach, controlling the county’s roads and transportation systems whose traffic has climbed amid explosive growth over the past few years. Commuter corridors, streets, bicycle paths and sidewalks all fall under ACHD. Commissioners, who serve four-year terms on the nonpartisan board, approve or deny agency projects.

The biggest fight is a rematch between incumbent commission President Alexis Pickering and Ada County Assessor Rebecca Arnold, who previously served on the ACHD commission for 16 years.

A political newcomer at the time, Pickering, now the executive director of Conservation Voters for Idaho, beat Arnold in the 2020 election by two votes, then four votes after a recount. Arnold sued Pickering and two Ada County officials after the election, alleging that votes were not tallied correctly. That case was dismissed.

They’re vying to represent the 2nd District, geographically the most central of the agency’s five districts. It covers the West Bench and most of Garden City. It is bordered by Eagle Road in the west, the Boise river in the east and north, and Interstate 84 and Franklin Road in the south.

Two candidates are also vying for longtime commissioner Jim Hansen’s 1st District seat after he chose not to seek re-election. Hansen backs Patricia Nilsson, a retired land use planner who worked for Canyon County and the city of Boise, and he is her campaign treasurer.

Antonio Bommarito, who works in real estate and information technology, is Nilsson’s opponent.

The 1st District encompasses a large chunk of south and southeast Boise running from Maple Grove Road in the West to the county’s border in the west and northeast. Its northern border generally follows Franklin Road and cuts around Julia Davis Park and along the Military Reserve. Its southern border runs along Hollilynn Drive near the World Center for Birds of Prey before dropping down to Kuna Mora Road and along Interstate 84.

Incumbent Dave McKinney, a former civil engineer and patent attorney who was first elected to the ACHD board in 2020, is running unopposed for his 5th District seat, which covers southern Eagle and Central Meridian.

For this Voter Guide story, The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each candidate in a contested race. Their responses are below.

Voters can still register to vote at the polls and vote early through Nov. 1. Learn more about this race and other local elections at IdahoStatesman.com/Election. Find more Treasure Valley candidate Q&As like this in the Statesman’s Voter Guide. For legislative races, find the district you live in here, and find your polling place here.

Read all of the candidates’ responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.

Editor’s note: Patricia Nilsson was a community member of the Idaho Statesman editorial board from July 2023 until May 2024. No current or past editorial board members participated in the reporting, writing or editing of this story.

This story was originally published October 15, 2024 at 4:00 AM.

Nick Rosenberger

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6437

Nick Rosenberger is the Idaho Statesman’s growth and development reporter who focuses on all things housing and business. Nick’s work has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines across the Pacific Northwest. Support my work with a digital subscription