Idaho

Idaho District 29 Democratic candidates Sen. James Ruchti, Mary Shea, and former Rep. Nate Roberts held a town hall in Pocatello, drawing 40-50 attendees to discuss affordability ahead of November's general election. Questions ranged from Proposition 1, the abortion-related ballot initiative, to healthcare, Medicaid, housing costs, and wages. Shea clarified the measure would not override Idaho's parental-consent laws for minors. Candidates criticized state income tax cuts, estimated at $4.5 billion over five years, arguing the revenue could have funded affordable housing and childcare instead. Roberts also called for repealing Idaho's right-to-work law to raise wages. The candidates face Republican opponents John Crowder, Dustin Manwaring, and Jennifer Miles.

A year after federal agents raided La Catedral Arena in Wilder, Idaho, detaining 105 people at a horse racing and cultural festival, the operation remains the subject of an ACLU class-action lawsuit alleging Fourth Amendment violations. Advocates say ICE used an FBI gambling warrant as cover for an immigration sweep, deploying armored vehicles, flash-bangs, and rubber bullets against a crowd that included children and U.S. citizens. Of those detained, roughly 75 were reportedly deported and 26 released after habeas petitions. DHS and Idaho's governor defend the raid as lawful. The case, along with related suits over ICE enforcement deaths in Minnesota and Chicago, could shape limits on immigration enforcement tactics nationwide.

Bonneville School District 93 in Idaho Falls will require employees to sign a form certifying their "biological sex" as defined under state law, after trustees approved a resolution directing the superintendent to create a verification process. The move is meant to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 1100 (2023), which restricts multi-occupancy school restrooms to the sexes they are designated for, and House Bill 421 (2024), which codifies a binary definition of sex in Idaho law. Employees will confirm or correct their recorded sex and acknowledge restroom-use restrictions tied to it. The policy follows other legal disputes over SB 1100, including a recent Boise School District settlement and a dropped lawsuit challenging the law's application to transgender students.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little's reelection campaign has broken the state's fundraising record for a statewide candidate, surpassing the mark previously set by his own 2022 campaign. His campaign reported raising over $2.4 million, though the Idaho Secretary of State's Sunshine site shows a slightly lower figure of $2.37 million, a discrepancy attributed to reporting lag.

About $1.8 million of the contributions came from in-state donors, with roughly half from individuals rather than companies. Little has received nearly 100 maximum donations of $5,000, the limit per election cycle for statewide candidates. Top contributors include construction, real estate, mining, hospital and agricultural companies.

Little is seeking a third term, which would make him only the third governor in Idaho history to serve three consecutive terms. President Trump endorsed him in June. His Democratic challenger, Terri Pickens, has raised nearly $250,000, while independent John Stegner has raised about $540,000, leaving Little with a commanding financial advantage heading into the race.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little's reelection campaign has broken the fundraising record for a statewide candidate, surpassing the mark set by his own 2022 campaign. His campaign reported raising over $2.4 million, though the state's Sunshine disclosure site, which lags by a few days, shows about $2.37 million. Roughly $1.8 million came from in-state donors, with about half from individuals rather than companies. Little has collected nearly 100 maximum donations of $5,000, the limit per election cycle, from construction, real estate, mining, hospital, and agricultural interests.

Little, who received President Trump's endorsement in June, is seeking a third term and would become only the third Idaho governor to serve three consecutive terms. His Democratic challenger, Terri Pickens, has raised nearly $250,000, while independent John Stegner has raised about $540,000, leaving Little with a substantial financial advantage heading into the race.

A group of about a dozen demonstrators, organized by Japanese American advocacy network Tsuru for Solidarity, walked more than 45 miles over four days between immigration enforcement sites in King County, Washington, linking current immigrant detention practices to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066. The pilgrimage began at Hing Hay Park in Seattle and was set to conclude with a rally at the ICE detention center in Tacoma. Stops included the Tukwila ICE field office, King County International Airport, and the Puyallup Fairgrounds, site of a wartime temporary incarceration camp.

Organizers, including incarceration camp survivors now in their 80s, are demanding the abolition of ICE, closure of detention centers, and an end to family separations. The event is part of a broader Tsuru for Solidarity tour of detention and historical incarceration sites, with prior stops in Texas and future pilgrimages planned in San Francisco and Honolulu.

President Trump signed an executive order deferring collection of the federal excise tax on dyed (off-road) diesel through the end of the year and barring IRS penalties for using it on highways, as diesel prices topped $6 per gallon nationally for the first time, driven higher by the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, restrictions near the Strait of Hormuz, and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds followed with a proclamation allowing dyed diesel on public roads to haul crops, fertilizer and manure through February 2027. At least a dozen other Republican governors, plus North Carolina's Democratic governor, took similar action. Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a separate order suspending state dyed-diesel inspections for 30 days while agencies review enforcement policy, with legislative leaders voicing support.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said federal estimates project roughly $640 million in savings for Iowa farmers this harvest, with state actions adding further relief. Energy analysts cautioned the tax deferral mainly benefits truckers and will do little to address the underlying supply-driven price spike. Farm groups and Republican officials praised the moves as timely relief amid tight farm margins ahead of the November elections.