Giddings drops by

Priscilla Giddings made a pair of campaign stops in the Silver Valley on Sunday in her pursuit of Idaho’s lieutenant governor seat in 2022.

Giddings (R, White Bird), Idaho’s District 7 Representative is seeking to fill the position currently held by Janice McGeachin — who is pursuing the position of governor herself.

The stops at Wallace’s Blackboard Marketplace and Pinehurst’s Prospector Pizza were small, intimate gatherings, which allowed Giddings the opportunity to have quality question and answer sessions with the attendees.

During her brief opening remarks in Wallace, she discussed several topics, including her opposition to the teaching of critical race theory, frustrations over Idaho’s spending in regard to services like Medicaid versus education, and her support of Idaho being a Second Amendment sanctuary state.

The field for the lieutenant governor seat has heated up recently and includes Giddings, Luke Malek (R, Coeur d’Alene) and Scott Bedke (R, Oakley).

Bedke is a nine-term state representative and House speaker since December 2012.

Malek is an attorney and former House member who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 1st Congressional District, but lost to Russ Fulcher.

Giddings discussed how there are varying levels of conservatism, and how her opponents were “less conservative” than she is based on a ranking system from the American Conservative Union – which ranked her as the third most conservative active Idaho legislator in the state, with Bedke ranking 69th.

Shoshone County has been under the Giddings’ leadership since 2016 as a part of District 7, which means that with her pursuit of this higher position, the residents of Shoshone County will be choosing a new representative during the 2022 elections.

Giddings believes that the “bully-pulpit” that accompanies the position of lieutenant governor will allow her to be at her most effective level and it’s there that she believes that she can still help the constituents from Shoshone County based on her understanding of the area.

“I know you guys up here, I know the issues,” Giddings said. “From superfund issues, Forest Services issues, levy issues, I understand what is going on here and I know how to deal with the various agencies that are at play here in Shoshone County.”

Giddings also thinks that, due to upcoming redistricting, this would have been her last term with Shoshone County as part of her constituency and that it is possible that Shoshone County may be redistricted in with parts of neighboring Kootenai among others.

Current Lt. Gov. McGeachin and Giddings have a positive track record of working together and having similar stances on the various issues in Idaho, including being the co-chair of Lt. Gov. McGeachin’s indoctrination task force.

However, Giddings did mention that she and current Idaho Gov. Brad Little are not on speaking terms, but that if he should run (where he would likely be the heavy favorite to win), that she would “look forward to the opportunity to work with him.”

For more information on Priscilla Giddings’ candidacy for lieutenant governor, please visit giddings4idaho.com.