Democrat and independent challenge incumbents in District 14. Here are Statesman’s picks

After Idaho voters passed a Medicaid expansion citizen initiative with 61% of the vote, state Sen. C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, brought forth a bill to make it much more difficult — some say impossible — to get a citizen initiative on the ballot.

Even the voters in Grow’s own legislative District 14 voted overwhelmingly to approve Medicaid expansion. In the 21 precincts in District 14, 14,817 voters, 55.4%, said “yes” to Medicaid expansion.

That, alone, should be reason enough to cast a vote against Grow this election.

Grow’s opponent, Ellen Spencer, running as an independent, said she supports Medicaid expansion and opposes any further restrictions on the initiative process.

Spencer, a risk manager for College of Western Idaho, differs from Grow on several more issues, including education funding, property tax relief, raising the minimum wage in Idaho and allowing voters to decide on local-option taxes.

In light of those differences and Grow’s continued support for restrictions on the citizens initiative process, the Idaho Statesman editorial board endorses Spencer for state Senate in District 14.

Spencer said one of her priorities is to increase public education funding to get Idaho out of 51st place in per pupil spending by eliminating some sales tax exemptions and tapping rainy day funds.

With regard to property taxes, Spencer is perhaps a bit too ambitious as she wants to look at an overhaul of the entire system, including looking at corporate taxes, sales taxes, exemptions, tax breaks and income taxes.

But Grow, a retired CPA, focuses on limiting local government spending and fixing property valuation at the time of purchase, an idea that would result in not treating like properties in a like manner.

We recommend voters in District 14 elect independent Ellen Spencer to the state Senate.

District 14 Representative, Seat B

Democratic candidate Shelley Brock is perhaps best known for her work fighting for land-use issues against the oil and gas industry, which she continues to champion.

But in her interview with the Idaho Statesman editorial board, Brock proved herself to be well-versed in a wide range of other issues that she would be faced with as a state representative in District 14.

The Idaho Statesman editorial board endorses Shelley Brock for state representative in District 14.

Brock is challenging two-term incumbent Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle, who declined an invitation to interview with the editorial board. The Statesman will not endorse a candidate who does not interview with the board. DeMordaunt also declined an interview during the primary.

In this race, Brock offers a viable alternative for voters in the traditionally Republican district that covers western Ada County.

Brock, a surgical technologist at Saint Alphonsus, still lists protection of land rights and natural resources as her top issue, but she also is informed on issues of funding public education and lowering property taxes.

Brock supports Medicaid expansion without sideboards. She supports eliminating sales tax on groceries, supports increasing the circuit breaker program to provide property tax relief for targeted individuals and she supports allowing school districts to collect impact fees to build new schools.

Brock supports raising the homeowners exemption and indexing it and supports keeping the citizen initiative process as is.

She supports raising teacher pay and opposed her opponent’s vote to scrap Idaho core standards.

Brock opposes any effort to transfer federal land to state lands and she opposes a trespassing bill that she said threatens outdoor recreation and did not take into account backcountry hunters and anglers.

Brock plays much more than one note, and in her answers to the questions from the editorial board she approached issues from the voters’ perspective.

Brock would be an outstanding representative for her constituents in District 14.