Larger than expected voter turnout for midterm
Of 7,215 registered voters in Shoshone County, 4,199 braved the freezing temperatures to cast their votes in Tuesday’s General Election.
That 58.2% is one of the higher turnouts in recent memory, trailing only the General Elections of 2008 and 2020 — both of which featured presidential races.
While nationally it was the midterm election that stole the show, in Shoshone County it was a pair of Shoshone County Commissioner races that likely brought the voters out into the Arctic weather.
Democratic incumbent commissioners John Hansen (District 3) and Jay Huber (District 2) faced Republicans Jeff Zimmerman and David Dose respectively, and ultimately the voters decided that it was time for new blood at the helm of the county as both challengers secured nearly 2/3 of the total votes that were cast.
Following their victories, the News-Press had a chance to speak with both Dose and Zimmerman — both of whom expressed their deepest thanks toward the voters.
“I would like to sincerely thank several people for lots of things over the past few weeks and months,” Dose said. “First off, I very much appreciate everybody in this county who took the time to vote, and especially those who voted for me. I promise to work hard and try to be worthy of the trust you have shown me. Secondly, I very much appreciate my wife Kereen, my family, my campaign managers and helpers, the generous donors, fellow candidates, dedicated advisers, and everybody who participated in the lengthy process to get me here this time around; I couldn’t have done it without them. I want to give a big shout-out to the clerk’s office and all of the poll workers and watchers who helped keep our election process rolling and put in so many long hours this week. And lastly, I would like to extend my appreciation to Jay Huber for his years of service to the county and the citizens. I look forward to the challenge of serving the good people of Shoshone County well. Thanks to you all for this opportunity. Your prayers and patience will be much appreciated as we get things rolling in the coming months.”
Much of this was echoed by his fellow winner.
“I would like to thank the Shoshone County residents who came out to vote in this election. A special thanks to those who voted for me, those who supported my campaign, and the support from the Shoshone County Republican Central Committee,” Zimmerman said. “I am eager to get started and plan on hitting the ground running in January. I look forward to working with the elected county officials, their staff, as well as county employees. I will also keep citizens well informed of public hearings and will encourage more public participation. I will serve the people of Shoshone County with integrity, transparency and accountability.”
The only other contested race at the county level featured Democratic incumbent Rick Smith being challenged by registered write-in candidate Nick Elam for the position of Coroner — Smith garnered nearly 85% of the votes.
Prosecutor Ben Allen, Treasurer Karey Eddy, Clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard and Assessor Jerry White all ran unopposed for their respective seats.
During the May Primary Election, only 2,428 ballots were cast across the GOP and Democratic Primaries — 1,771 less than the General.
Midterm elections historically result in lower voter turnouts, which was what Lewis-Eberhard and her staff were anticipating once again — that wasn’t the case and due to the overwhelming amount of voters, the final precincts didn’t have their votes counted and submitted to the courthouse until 11:51 p.m., nearly four hours after the polls “closed.”
Lewis-Eberhard attributes this to the current political climate, not just in Idaho — but across the country. Combining that with a pair of important local races and you have a recipe for a larger-than-expected turnout.
“I think everyone is a little more polarized right now,” Lewis-Eberhard said. “We also have two tight local races for commissioner this year, so people wanted to make sure that they voted.”
Perhaps no city embodies this more than Pinehurst which usually sees an average of 220 votes cast during non-presidential elections. This time around, 615 votes were cast in Pinehurst, resulting in the polling station at the Pinehurst-Kingston Lions Building running out of ballots — not once, but twice.
And they weren’t the only ones.
“We ran out of ballots in Pinehurst, Kellogg and Osburn, so then we had to use the express voting machines,” Lewis-Eberhard said. “To use the express, you get a thermal ballot and put it in the machine and then you make your choices on the screen with your finger. Once you’re done, the machine prints the thermal ballot out with your selections on it, and it gets counted the exact same way as the paper ballots.”
Because the paper ballots are printed in a specific manner, the county couldn’t simply print more ballots as they ran out.
However, due to the large voter turnout, and the relatively lower number of express machines, folks who waited until later in the day were forced to wait in line for their turn.
The state and national races finished almost predictably as the largely conservative base maintained control of Idaho’s top seats — nearly all of which mirrored the results in Shoshone County.
Republican incumbents Brad Little (Governor), Mike Crapo (Senate) and Russ Fulcher (Representative) all won their races handily.
Fellow Republicans Raul Labrador (attorney general), Scott Bedke (Lt. Governor), Debbie Critchfield (superintendent of public instruction), Brandon Woolf (state controller) and Julie Ellsworth (treasurer) all picked up sweeping wins as well.
For Idaho’s Legislative District No. 2, Republicans Phil Hart and Heather Scott were uncontested in their pursuit of seats in the state senate and house respectively. Republican Dale Hawkins won his contested race for a seat in the Idaho Legislature as well.
Two measures appeared on the ballot as well, one was simply an advisory question where voters were asked if they supported recent tax cuts as well as funding for eduction — to which the answers were overwhelmingly in favor of.
The other measure, Idaho Amendment SJR 102, which amends the Idaho Constitution to allow the Legislature to call itself into a special session. Currently, only the governor can call a special session. As of press-time, all polls show SJR 102 passing at 52% in favor of the change, but it hasn’t been officially called yet.
All of the results are considered unofficial until they are properly canvassed and then subsequently certified.
Here are the results for all of the contested races in Shoshone County (county, state, and national elections). These results include the total number of votes received as well as the percentage of the votes received.
With all 14 Shoshone County precincts reporting:
• Shoshone County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David R. Dose — 2,492 or 60.49%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 1,628 or 39.51%
• Shoshone County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 1,433 or 34.98%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 2,664 or 65.02%
• Shoshone County Coroner
(D) Richard “Rick” Smith — 2,653 or 84.79%
Write In — 476 or 15.21%
• Supervisor Kootenai-Shoshone Soil & Water Conservation District (Pick 3)
Walter “Jon” Groth — 1,672 or 22.65%
Thomas O. Shafer — 1,284 or 17.39%
Joel S. Noland — 1,187 or 16.08%
Kevin R. Hicks — 1,538 or 20.83%
Calvin D. Roberts — 994 or 13.47%
Robert Flagor — 707 or 9.58%
• Supervisor Benewah Soil and Water (Pick 3)
Tim Schaffer — 73 or 32.44%
LeAnn Daman — 72 or 32%
David Crabtree — 80 or 35.56%
• Governor
(R) Brad Little — 2,614 or 63.14%
(I) Ammon Bundy — 669 or 16.16%
(CON) Chantyrose Davison — 36 or .87%
(D) Stephen Heidt — 767 or 18.53%
(LIB) Paul Sand — 42 or 1.01%
• Lt. Governor
(R) Scott Bedke — 2,835 or 70.35%
(D) Terri Pickens Manweiler — 1,059 or 26.28%
(CON) Pro-Life — 136 or 3.37%
• Secretary of State
(D) Shawn Keenan — 1,117 or 27.79%
(R) Phil McGrane — 2,887 or 71.82%
• State Controller
(D) Dianna David — 995 or 24.60%
(CON) Miste Gardner — 121 or 2.99%
(R) Brandon D. Woolf — 2,929 or 72.41%
• State Treasurer
(R) Julie A. Ellsworth — 2,945 or 73.51%
(D) Deborah Silver — 1,061 or 26.49%
• United States Senator
(I) Scott Oh Cleveland — 172 or 4.19%
(R) Mike Crapo — 2,858 or 69.55%
(D) David Roth — 1,005 or 24.46%
(LIB) Idaho Sierra Law — 31 or .75%
(CON) Ray J. Writz — 43 or 1.05%
• U.S. Representative 1st District
(LIB) Darian Drake — 108 or 2.66%
(R) Russ Fulcher — 2,868 or 70.59%
(D) Kaylee Peterson — 1,087 or 26.75%
• Attorney General
(R) Raul Labrador — 2,914 or 71.47%
(D) Tom Arkoosh — 1,163 or 28.53%
• Superintendent of Public Instruction
(R) Debbie Critchfield — 2,904 or 72.56%
(D) Terry L. Gilbert — 1,098 or 27.44%
• Legislative District 2, Position B
(R) Dale Hawkins — 2,810 or 69.92%
(LIB) Jennifer Luoma — 138 or 3.43%
(D) Tom Stroschein — 1,071 or 26.65%
The following results are from the individual voting precincts in Shoshone County for the three contested county races.
• Murray — Precinct 1
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 50 or 55.56%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 40 or 44.44%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 18 or 20.22%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 71 or 79.78%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 49 or 90.74%
Write in — 5 or 9.26%
• Mullan — Precinct 2
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 107 or 48.20%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 115 or 51.80%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 92 or 42.20%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 126 or 57.80%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith Votes 169 or 92.35%
Write in — 14 or 7.65%
• Wallace — Precinct 3
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 107 or 48.20%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 115 or 51.80%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 92 or 42.20%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 126 or 57.80%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 169 or 92.35%
Write in — 14 or 7.65%
• Silverton — Precinct 4
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 108 or 63.16 %
(D) Jay L. Huber — 63 or 36.84%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 60 or 34.68%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 113 or 65.32%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 118 or 87.41%
Write in — 17 or 12.59%
• Osburn — Precinct 5
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 330 or 62.50%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 198 or 37.50%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 183 or 34.72%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 344 or 65.28%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 353 or 87.38%
Write in — 51 or 12.62%
• Kellogg — Precinct 6
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 368 or 61.95%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 226 or 38.05%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 205 or 34.86%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 383 or 35.14%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 374 or 84.23%
Write in — 70 or 15.77%
• Wardner — Precinct 7
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 37 or 52.11%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 34 or 47.89%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 30 or 44.12%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 38 or 55.88%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 50 or 98.04%
Write in — 1 or 1.96%
• Smelterville — Precinct 8
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 130 or 66.67%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 65 or 33.33%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 43 or 22.40%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 149 or 77.60%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 105 or 75.54%
Write in — 34 or 24.46%
• Pinehurst — Precinct 9
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 425 or 70.25%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 180 or 29.75%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 144 or 23.72%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 463 or 76.28%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 336 or 72.73%
Write in — 126 or 27.27%
• Kingston — Precinct 10
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 340 or 67.59%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 163 or 32.41%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 121 or 23.87%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 386 or 76.13%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 286 or 77.72%
Write in — 82 or 22.28%
• Calder — Precinct 11
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 66 or 86.84%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 10 or 13.16%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 13 or 17.57%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 61 or 82.43%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 34 or 100%
Write in — 0 or 0%
• Clarkia — Precinct 12
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 42 or 87.50%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 6 or 12.50%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 8 or 16.67%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 40 or 83.33%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 34 or 94.44%
Write in — 2 or 5.56%
• Avery — Precinct 13
County Commissioner 2nd District
(R) David Dose — 9 or 64.29%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 5 or 35.71%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 4 or 30.77%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 9 or 69.23%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 7 or 100%
Write in — 0 or 0%
• Absentee — Precinct 14
(R) David Dose — 292 or 44.31%
(D) Jay L. Huber — 367 or 55.69%
County Commissioner 3rd District
(D) John Hansen — 351 or 554.17%
(R) Jeff Zimmerman — 297 or 45.83%
County Coroner
(D) Richard Rick Smith — 502 or 92.28%
Write in — 42 or 7.72%
