Who’s running for U.S. House in Idaho’s 1st district? Fulcher has several challengers

U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher is running for another term to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District and takes on three challengers in the Nov. 5 general election.

Fulcher, 62, a three-term incumbent Republican from Meridian, ran unopposed in May’s primary and automatically advanced to November’s general election. His seat — one of two in the U.S. House for Idaho — represents western and northern Idaho, and a portion of Ada County. Members of the U.S. House are elected to two-year terms.

Fulcher’s leading opponent in the general election is Democrat Kaylee Peterson, 34, of Eagle, who also ran unopposed in her party primary. The race represents a rematch of the same congressional race from 2022. In that previous general election, Fulcher received more than 71% of votes compared to 26% for Peterson.

Political newcomers Matt Loesby, 33, of Eagle, for the Libertarian Party, and Brendan J. Gomez, 25, of Boise, for the Constitution Party, also are on the ballot for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District.

Fulcher reported $565,000 in campaign fundraising this election cycle through September, according to his latest federal election filings. Some of his largest donors included Frank and Belinda VanderSloot, Albertsons Companies, Inc., Koch Industries, and political action committees for the television and cellular service industries.

During the same period, Fulcher spent about $450,000, mostly on travel, hosting events and campaign staff salaries.

Through September, Peterson reported raising more than $160,000 from more than 2,000 individual donors, according to her federal election filings. Over that period, she spent about $152,000, on travel, events and printed campaign materials.

Neither Loesby nor Gomez reported any campaign fundraising or expenditures.

The Idaho Statesman asked questions of the candidates for the state’s 1st Congressional District, and their answers are included below.

Voters can learn more about other Idaho races and other local elections at the Statesman’s Voter Guide. (Find the Congressional district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates’ responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar beneath each candidate or click and drag horizontally to read the full Q&A.

This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 4:00 AM.

Kevin Fixler

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6204

Kevin Fixler is an investigative reporter with the Idaho Statesman and a three-time Idaho Print Reporter of the Year. He holds degrees from the University of Denver and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Support my work with a digital subscription