Boise legislator, longest-serving Democrat in Idaho Capitol, dies of cancer
Rep. Sue Chew, Idaho’s longest-serving Democratic lawmaker, died Wednesday surrounded by friends after a battle with cancer, according to a news release from Idaho House and Senate Democrats.
Chew, 66, represented Legislative District 17 encompassing Southwest Boise and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2023.
She announced in June that she would not seek reelection after her ninth term expires this year. She stepped away from the Capitol this legislative session as she battled pancreatic cancer from the hospital, where she had been receiving chemotherapy and was admitted to intensive care. Substitutes served in her place.
Gov. Brad Little ordered American and state of Idaho flags to be flown at half-staff in Chew’s honor until sunset Friday, a news release said.
Chew, a pharmacist who was born in Oakland, California, was first elected to represent the Boise Bench nearly two decades ago. She has since served nine consecutive terms and was well-known for her door-knocking campaigns.
Chew was raised in California, where her father was one of the first lawyers of Chinese descent, according to a House resolution honoring her this year. She grew up speaking English and Cantonese, the Associated Press reported.
She studied biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a doctorate of pharmacy degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She initially moved to Boise for a geriatric medicine residency at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She later worked for Saint Alphonsus Health System and served in leadership roles at various state and local women’s organizations.
During her time in office, she advocated for reform on indigent health care and disability rights and was involved in the Add the Words campaign, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination in state law. She previously told the Idaho Statesman she helped pass a 2018 update to the state’s “good Samaritan” law, which gives legal protections to someone who reports a drug overdose.
House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, praised her legacy.
“I’m so grateful to have known and served with Rep. Chew,” Rubel said. “She was motivated by pure love and a desire to help those who most needed an advocate. People who otherwise felt they had no voice in the corridors of power knew they had a voice in Sue.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2024 at 9:50 AM.
