Democrat offers strong challenge to Idaho Senate race incumbent: Here’s our choice

The race between incumbent state Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, and her Democratic challenger Mik Losé is a close call.

We find ourselves agreeing with Losé on several issues, including Medicaid expansion without sideboards and leaving Idaho’s initiative process as is, without making it more difficult to get an initiative on the ballot.

Den Hartog, meanwhile, has voted in favor of Medicaid expansion sideboards, such as work requirements.

But Den Hartog was one of 10 Republicans to break ranks in 2019 and voted against a bill that would have made Idaho’s initiative process one of the most restrictive in the country. As she said then, Den Hartog told the editorial board that she supports some restrictions on the initiative process but not a combination that would go too far.

Losé, endorsed by the Idaho Education Association, unequivocally supports increasing funding on public education and points to sales tax exemptions and hemp production in Idaho as potential sources of revenue to fund education.

Losé rightly recognizes education funding as a property tax issue, as many districts are operating on supplemental levies, which are borne by property taxes.

Den Hartog, who is on the Senate Education Committee, said Idaho has been increasing public education funding every year but, she said, has not seen a commensurate increase in outcomes.

Noting that the largest portion of Idaho’s budget is education, Den Hartog, perhaps realistically, said she doesn’t think even more increases in spending are in the cards, so she’d like to look at different models for funding.

Specifically, she said she would like Idaho to switch to a “student-centered” funding model, in which state funding “follows” each student depending on needs. For example, she said, low-income students or students with disabilities would receive more state funding.

We are skeptical of the model and recognize that giving more money to one group of students while keeping the overall pie the same size necessarily means less funding to other students. We are somewhat reassured that Den Hartog said this is not a scheme for school vouchers or using public dollars on private schools, which she said is a separate issue.

Losé and Den Hartog agree on a few issues and have only slight variations on others.

Losé and Den Hartog favor getting rid of the state sales tax on groceries. They both favor hemp legalization.

Losé supports funding all-day kindergarten, which Den Hartog said she is open to, noting the $40 million to $50 million price tag.

Losé told the editorial board he is “absolutely, 100%” in favor of school districts collecting impact fees to help pay for new buildings necessitated by growth.

Den Hartog, noting that a school impact fees proposal has been brought forward by the Kuna school district in her legislative district, supports school district impact fees but would like to see a trade-off of taking off the table the ability to request bonds for new buildings.

Losé favors raising the homeowners exemption and indexing it. Den Hartog said she is open to raising the homeowners exemption and indexing it but wants to avoid a massive shift in tax burden to commercial and agricultural property owners.

Key differences include local-option taxes and the state’s supermajority requirement for approving debt. Losé supports local-option taxes; Den Hartog opposes it. Losé supports reducing the supermajority to something more reasonable, such as 60%, while Den Hartog favors keeping the supermajority, arguing it should be harder to approve long-term debt.

Losé is a very strong candidate and would represent District 22 well. Den Hartog demonstrates a deep understanding of several issues and shows she has learned a lot in her three terms in the Senate. She has proved to be a reasonable legislator in her party, reasonable enough to earn another trip back to the Idaho Senate.

This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 4:00 AM.