U.S. Senate candidate Nels Mitchell talks policy
In preparation for U.S. Senate elections on Nov. 14, Idaho’s Democratic nominee Nels Mitchell visited Moscow on Sept. 11 and 12 to meet with Community members at the Latah County Fair.
Moscow community member Alan Rose speaks with Democratic senatorial candidate Nels Mitchell at this year’s Latah County Fair. Mitchell visited Moscow during a state tour to drum up support for his senatorial campaign.
Mitchell, a 60-year-old Boise attorney, is running against one-term Republican incumbent Sen. James “Jim” Risch, who is up for reelection this year. In order to drum up support for his campaign, which began in January 2013, Mitchell is touring Idaho to talk to constituents in his first-ever run at political office.
“It’s really been interesting. One of the fun things about running has been traveling around the state,” Mitchell said. “Consistently, whether I’m in St. Maries, Bonners Ferry, or in Idaho Falls, people are unhappy with the dysfunction and gridlock in Washington, D.C., They want a government that works, they don’t want a government that is polarized by partisanship, like the one we currently have in Washington.”
Despite Idaho being represented in Congress exclusively by Republicans, as well as the party having the majority of seats in the Idaho house and senate, Mitchell believes most of Idaho’s voting public remains independent of political affiliation.
“Ultimately, it will be the people in the middle that will decide the race,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said his experience as an attorney and part-time professor at the University of Idaho College of Law over the last 30 years would serve him well in accommodating and working with the differing viewpoints that persist within Congress.
Mitchell said his top priority is the economy, and that he’s in support of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 in order to give those who work for minimum wage a greater opportunity to reinvest money back into their communities and local economies.
He also said he would advocate for the continued funding of the Idaho National Laboratory, which he said provides Idaho with significant employment opportunities and the nation with a valuable research resource.
A focus on tax policy reform is another one of his campaign highlights.
“There’s been a bill under consideration twice over the past three years, called the Bring the Jobs Home Act, which eliminates the tax benefit for American companies that ship jobs overseas,” Mitchell said. “If we eliminate that tax break, it will help bring jobs back into the nation in places like Idaho.”
On education, Mitchell said he is in support of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bill to allow an estimated 25 million people with older student loans the ability to refinance to a lower interest rate comparable with the current market value.
Though Mitchell would be unable to exclusively impact education policy within Idaho as a U.S. senator, he said he believes the Idaho Legislature needs to offer colleges more financial support, and if elected, would continue to be an advocate for universities throughout Idaho.
Recently, Idaho passed the “guns on campus” bill that allows holders of Idaho issued enhanced concealed carry permits to exercise second amendment rights on public college campuses. Mitchell said that while he supports the second amendment, he was surprised the state legislature did not listen to and consider the recommendations of major stakeholders that denounced the bill, such as university presidents and police chiefs.
Mitchell said, if elected to the U.S. Senate, he would be in favor of reworking campaign finance law to reverse the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. He said the decision gave corporations the right to spend an unlimited amount of funds on political campaigns through Political Action Committees.
“There’s too much influence from special interests groups in Washington, D.C.,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said, in comparison, his campaign has been supported by small donations from citizens across the state, and said he has not received financial backing by special interest groups.
Mitchell also said young adult voter participation is imperative for the coming election cycle.
“There are too many issues for young people to sit out on the sidelines,” he said. “Their vote does make a difference.”
George Wood Jr. can be reached at [email protected]