Jordan speaks in Kellogg

KELLOGG — Issues facing rural Idaho were the foundation of Paulette Jordan’s town hall-style meeting in Kellogg this past Wednesday.

Jordan has her sights set on defeating longtime incumbent Idaho Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch and hopes that her appeal to her fellow North Idahoans and Rural Idahoans will carry her.

Speaking to a crowd of roughly 60 people outside the Hill Street Depot, Jordan spoke of her frustrations that stemmed from Tuesday night’s debate, as well as answered questions from the crowd on issues such as poverty and homelessness in Idaho, health care for veterans, and how the state of Idaho is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We could’ve done a whole lot better,” Jordan said of the state’s response to the pandemic. “I want Idaho to be protected at the national level. A lot of the people who were here today are small business owners and some of them have had to close up shop due to the COVID. We’ve got to help these people. We need appropriations coming back to our communities.”

One of the key issues that COVID has really exacerbated, according to Jordan, is the need for quality rural broadband, which would bridge the gap for small businesses, education and health care.

Jordan also spoke of her pro-Second Amendment stance, which is a topic where she typically differs from many of her Democratic contemporaries.

“I am a 2A, pro-Second Amendment Idahoan,” Jordan said. “You can’t really be an Idahoan and pro-Idaho and not be pro-Second Amendment.”

But according to Jordan, right now isn’t the time for debating gun issues, those kinds of topics are used more as distractions from real issues like advocacy at the national level for things like public lands, rural broadband, improving Idaho’s economy.

Jordan also addressed a rumor that had been circulating locally that she no longer supported the mining industry, which in Shoshone County would be a death sentence when it came to garnering any votes.

“Mining is absolutely essential,” Jordan said. “Mining just needs to be regulated and kept clear from our waters, and needs to be guided as it already is. We have good people who make sure that mining corporations are respectful of local lands and waterways. Those resources belong to the people and need to be protected. Those people who are working in mining, they absolutely have the right to access prosperity, the right to be treated fairly, and the right to have access to insurance and health care. And if the mining corporations are being respectful toward the communities that they are working in and all those things are good, then I’m good.”

Should Jordan win her election, she would seek seats on many Senate committees, including the Energy and Environment Committee, Agricultural Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and would push for the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

Above all else, Jordan wants people to remember to be unified and to resist any divisiveness.

“We need to remember that we’re all family,” Jordan said. “There’s going to be outsiders who want to divide us. We need to remember that we all love our land, we love our rights and our freedoms, we love our ability to express our individuality, and that should always be protected.”

If elected, Jordan, a 40-year-old Native American woman from Plummer, would be North Idaho’s first real representation at the federal level since Cecil Andrus, who served as Idaho’s governor, as well as Secretary of the Interior to President Carter.

Paulette Jordan is seeking election against Sen. Jim Risch in the Nov. 3 general election.