Local candidates for the Idaho Legislature focused on what they could do for a population of constituents nearly as temporary as their terms of office — college students.
At a Thursday forum held on campus, the District 5 candidates explained their connections to the University of Idaho and the policies they support that could help students after graduation.
Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, faces Democratic challenger Laurene Sorensen and right-wing Independent Ken De Vries.
Carly Scott | Argonaut
Candidates answer audience questions in turn at the Great State Debate Thursday evening.
The only Republican of the three incumbents, Troy made clear her connection to the university. She said she graduated from UI, worked at UI for 12 years and has recently been working closely with members of ASUI.
Last fall, ASUI Lobbyist Nate Fisher approached Troy for support to pass a statewide medical amnesty law. Troy sponsored the bill and it passed in the most recent legislative session, going into effect over the summer.
Troy and the new ASUI Lobbyist Rachael Miller have plans to pass a law granting in-state prices on hunting and fishing licenses to out-of-state students attending the university.
Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, faces Republican challenger Carl Berglund, who focused on his status as a local.
“I’m from here,” Berglund said. “I’m not a transplant.”
Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, also departed from focus on the university. Instead, he reviewed what he had accomplished while he was a senator.
“I’m very proud that two years ago, we raised your gas tax,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he has made an impact in areas such as transportation funding, justice reinvestment and suicide prevention.
Schmidt’s Republican challenger, Dan Foreman, highlighted his military and police service, calling himself a Christian conservative Republican.
Foreman said he thinks young people would get more involved in local politics if more history was taught in schools.
Troy and Jordan said they can help young people get involved directly by hiring them as staff and volunteers.
“Community engagement is crucial — knowing your community and being involved in it,” Schmidt said. “But the Idaho Legislature could do something about this.”
Schmidt said legislator salaries are too low for most young people without money set aside from a lifetime of work to afford to hold office.
“So Idaho has one of the oldest legislatures in the country,” Schmidt said. “So here I stand before you an old, white-haired guy.”
Berglund said education being key to student involvement, but added that a little civic conversation can go a long way as well.
“At Tapped or Bucer’s, your preference, over a beer or coffee, you start talking about how you are engaged and start talking about how they should be engaged,” Berglund said. “You get out there, throw a rope around your contemporaries and say, ‘This job is ours.’”
The Democratic and Republican candidates agreed with Berglund’s suggestion. They disagreed on the question of anti-discrimination law.
The three Democratic candidates said they would support a change to the Idaho Human Rights Act to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual identity or orientation. Republican candidates Berglund and Foreman and Independent De Vries said they disagreed with the idea of protected classes.
Troy said she shared the Democrats’ sentiment, but had not yet seen a bill she could support. Religious freedom, she said, still needs to be balanced.
Nishant Mohan can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NishantRMohan