People kept asking me the same question all week: who should I vote for? So I sat down on the eve of the May 19 primary, opened the ballot, and went race by race. The result is a special episode of Political Potatoes that runs nearly two hours. I did not hedge. I did not soften. I named the names, walked through the records, and told you what I’d do with your ballot.
If you only have ten minutes before the polls close, this is the companion read. Listen to the full episode when you can. The whole conversation is up at Political Potatoes, and every operator I name has a dossier at IdahoExtremism.org. Cross-reference everything. That is the point.
These are my personal recommendations. The candidates have nothing to do with this. They can disavow me if they want to. I built IdahoVoters.com so you can do your own homework on all 262 candidates. What follows is what I’d do.
The thesis: voters deserve the truth, even when it’s ugly
The far-right faction that captured the Idaho Republican Party has spent years counting on one thing — that you would not look. They count on you not clicking the link. Not reading the filing. Not pulling up the sworn statement. They count on the volume of mailers, the avalanche of slick endorsements from PACs that are all run by the same one or two operators, and the assumption that anyone with an R by their name must be the conservative in the race.
I am a lifelong conservative Republican. I am also done pretending these people share my party’s values. So below is the list, then the receipts on the calls that earned the heat, then the part where I explain exactly why I am willing to put my name on every word.
The picks, race by race
Summary of the election recommendations made in the video
Governor — Brad Little. Endorsed by President Trump, who doubled down on him this week. His opponent, Mark Fitzpatrick, is a Newport Beach transplant and bar owner who promoted a “Straight White Pride” event during Pride Month, ran a Hitler-themed poll he refused to take down when Jewish Republicans asked, and, by his former church’s account, was excommunicated from the Eagle congregation he helped start over his anti-Semitism. Endorsed by Ammon Bundy. That tells you everything.
District 1 Senate — Jim Woodward. Retired Navy commander, traditional conservative, the actual adult in the room. Scott Herndon is the Citizens Alliance and Make Liberty Win money. Gambling and marijuana dollars from out of state, running the Idaho Freedom Caucus. I would not want my kids near him.
District 4 House — Crista Hazel. Helped found North Idaho Republicans and stood up to the KCRCC machine. KCRCC Chair Brent Regan shared Hazel’s Social Security number on the committee’s official page. Then Elaine Price went on a Twitter Space where Lauren Walker accused Hazel’s father, former FBI Special Agent Wayne Manis, of murdering the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge. That is verifiably false. Manis arrived at the end and took Randy Weaver into custody. He was not the shooter, not the commander, not even present for the killings. Price sat there and said nothing.
District 6 House — Cindy Agidius. Former Republican legislator who knows how to govern. Her opponent is a 20-something Christian nationalist who can’t stop posting about Ruby Ridge — an event that happened before he was born.
District 6 Senate — Lori McCann. Appointed to the seat vacated when Aaron von Ehlinger resigned ahead of being expelled for raping an intern. She’s done excellent work. Dan Foreman told a Native American Democratic candidate sitting next to him at a forum to “go back where she came from.” Her family was here before America was founded. Foreman has to go.
District 7 Seat A — Michael Collins. Kyle Harris ghosted me when I requested a meeting as a lobbyist and lied about it. He is bought and paid for by the far-right networks.
District 8 Senate — Megan Blanksma. Sharp, capable, knows the chamber. Christy Zito wrote a parole letter for a man imprisoned on what I understand was a child-enticement charge, saying she’d let him watch her grandkids. Watch this space — there’s more coming on Zito after the election. I’m not running an October surprise.
District 8 House (independent in November) — Heather Lewis. Army combat nurse and conservative Republican running as an independent rather than take the primary fight. Sean Hall and Rob Beiswenger are the GOP primary; whoever wins faces Lewis in November. Worth watching.
District 9 House Seat A — Judy Boyle. Not always my favorite, but a real conservative who actually gets gun bills passed. Her opponent took a photo with Mark Fitzpatrick. That tells you who he is.
District 9 House Seat B — John Shirts. Veteran, former JAG officer, Trump-appointed deputy U.S. attorney. Solid conservative. The far right is running Heidi Smith Takatori against him because Shirts is not “their” guy.
District 11 Senate — Camille Blaylock. Daughter of former party chair and state superintendent Tom Luna. Hospital administrative executive, with a long career in policy, sharp, and capable. Chris Trakel is back for a rematch after losing the seat — he lost it because he wouldn’t take orders from the Idaho Freedom Foundation on a couple of bills. He also has an anger management problem, which I would not bring into a Senate chamber. Pass on Trakel.
District 11 House Seat A — Debbie Geyer. A long career as Caldwell’s city clerk. Actually understands local control. Lucas Kaler won by 60-something votes last cycle on John Haida’s astroturf PAC pipeline (Stop Idaho Rhinos, Think Liberty, all run by one guy) and is woefully out of his depth on the floor.
District 11 House Seat B — Carlos Hernandez. Kent Marmon refused to even meet on a Trump-backed bill, then told me he wasn’t interested in his own voters’ opinion. His own constituents voted for Trump at nearly 70%. He represents Maria Nate, not Canyon County.
District 13 House — Cody Daffer. Steve Tanner brags about his Stop Idaho Rhinos endorsement, which is John Haida’s one-man PAC that put Julie Yamamoto’s face on a Photoshopped Playboy cover. Information is also coming out about Tanner’s prior California voter registration that suggests he may not have always been a Republican. Daffer is sharp and not beholden to the network.
District 20 Senate — Russell Spencer. Russ Spencer is a solid conservative, a veteran, and an attorney. Sen. Keyser’s bio has more holes than Swiss cheese. He was elected with the help of IFF’s network, and they are desperate to keep him in office.
District 23 House — Melissa Durrant. Chris Bruce is backed by everyone, including the $200,000 school-choice money pipeline that came after Durrant when she wouldn’t vote for a voucher program in a district with no private schools. Durrant is the better candidate.
District 24 Senate — Brent Reinke. Former Director of the Idaho Department of Corrections under Governor Otter, and a longtime county commissioner. Glenneda Zuiderveld doxed Krista Hazel. Names, phone numbers, and home address of Hazel’s family were posted on a Substack so flagrant that Substack itself pulled it down for terms-of-service violations. Zuiderveld backed off only when Hazel’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist. She is now playing the victim in the Washington Post. I am not interested.
District 24 House — Alex Caval. Attorney, qualified, sharp. Clint Hostetler is “Chemtrail Clint.” He pushed the original $250 million voucher bill. Gang of Eight. Done.
District 25 Senate — Casey Swenson. Former prosecutor, deep community roots. Josh Cole votes the way Maria Nate tells him to vote. Easy call.
District 25 House — Cherie Vollmer. Serves on the city council, brings actual solutions. David Leavitt got up on the House floor and called Idaho’s agriculture businesses “plantation owners” and “slave owners.” He needs to go.
District 28 Senate — Jim Guthrie. David Worley sued the Army, claiming he was punished under a fictional “no Christians in command” policy. His own legal team’s documents show he was actually disciplined for telling his first sergeant, in writing, “it’s not like I raped him… yet.” The full record is in his IdahoExtremism.org dossier. This is the same network that ran cover for von Ehlinger. Guthrie does the work. Worley is a manufactured candidate.
District 28 House — Rick Cheatum. Solid, likable, gets things done. James Lamborn says ridiculous things online for far-right pats on the head. Pass.
District 30 House Seat A — Ben Fuhriman. Financial planner who knows the water-rights numbers down to the acre-foot. Julianne Young is the network’s “Mary Poppins” — pleasant, smart, will not disavow a dime of the Fitzpatrick / pro-gambling money flowing into her race.
District 30 Senate — Julie VanOrden. Known her for years. Ethan Neff just moved here, immediately ran for office, and immediately got Freedom Foundation money. Hard pass.
District 31 House — Rod Furniss. Furniss is excellent. Kerry Hanks’ own son, Landon, publicly accused her of sexually abusing him as a child. If the same accusation had been made against any non-aligned candidate, the far right would have her in prison rhetoric within an hour. Instead, they victim-shame her own son. The same playbook they ran for von Ehlinger.
District 32 House — Erin Bingham. Doing a fantastic job. Brian McKellar is taking Doyle Beck and Bryan Smith's money. That’s all you need to know.
District 32 House Seat B — Stephanie Mickelsen. Has eaten some of the worst attacks the far right has thrown all cycle. She stands up to them. Kelly Golden is on the Beck/Smith pipeline.
District 33 House Seat A— Connor Cook. Firefighter, will work on actual policy. Barbie Hart turned a one-issue passion project into a touring career. Take it on the road, Barb. Leave the seat.
District 33 House Seat B — Marco Erickson. Rock solid. Re-elect him.
District 35 House Seat A — Mike Veile. Mike Veile is competent and serious. Chad Christensen is something else. The receipts on him have their own site: chadchristensen.org. I built it.
Why I am not pulling punches
For three years, Chad Christensen and his network (Greg Pruett, Dustin Hurst, Doyle Beck, Bryan Smith) set up a recorded call, lied to me to get me on it, edited a 90-second snippet out of a 45-minute conversation, sent it to my employer to try to get me fired, and then sued me when that didn’t work. Discovery handed me their text messages. Discovery handed me their boss’s email saying, in writing, that I had not tried to get Chad fired. They were lying then. Chad is lying about it now.
In his last video, Chad called the entire contents of chadchristensen.org “lies.” Every claim on that site is sourced to documents Chad himself signed under oath. So when Chad says it’s all lies, he is saying his own sworn statements are lies. That has a name. It is called perjury. And it would not be the first time. He signed a sworn affidavit in a separate case promising to unblock people on his Facebook page, then admitted publicly that he broke that promise. He deleted the post in question after the fact. The screenshots survived.
So: is he lying now, or was he lying then? Why would he lie under oath? Or is he just lying to save his skin? You decide. By the way, he is not being honest. And I am.
I have been sued twice for telling the truth in this state. I have won twice. I now have anti-SLAPP protections on my side that did not exist three years ago. Every word above is sourced. Every operator I named has a primary record I can hand you. The cleverness has license because the receipts are bulletproof.
Vote like you have done your homework. Watch the full episode before the polls close. Share it with the people in your precinct who keep asking who I should vote for.
That is how you take your party back.
About the Author
Gregory Graf is the CEO of Snake River Strategies and creator of Political Potatoes. He’s a lifelong conservative Republican living in Star, Idaho.
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Disclaimer: The following is intended to convey an opinion on newsworthy events of public concern regarding public figures and/or public officials in exercising their official duties. No implications or inferences—beyond those explicitly stated in the preceding— are intended to be conveyed or endorsed by the Author. Wherever available, hyperlinks have been provided to allow readers to directly access any underlying assertions of fact upon which this opinion is based.
