Incumbent loses Eagle’s divisive mayoral race. What next mayor plans for Avimor, housing

After months of campaigning, the election is over, and Eagle will soon have a new mayor.

Final, unofficial results saw City Council President Brad Pike win Tuesday’s runoff and wrest control from incumbent Mayor Jason Pierce. With all precincts reporting, Pike received 5,444 votes, or 55.2%, to Pierce’s 4,427, or 44.8%, Ada County Elections reported.

“I’m humbly overwhelmed, that’s for sure,” Pike told the Idaho Statesman by phone Tuesday night. “My team did a great job. They pushed me through the finish line.”

Pike said the election had a divisive element and was volatile at times. He said some individuals fabricated information against him.

“The campaign itself was a roller coaster,” Pike said. “It was a daunting task, but it was doable. It was always doable.”

Pike said it was time to heal the city and bring people together to find solutions to the area’s challenges. He said he wanted keep the community involved and represent everybody in the city, not just the people who voted for him.

“We have a lot to accomplish here,” said Pike, who will take office in January and will earn $92,795 per year.

Pierce did not return calls or text messages.

Runoff required after no candidate wins majority

This is the second time Pierce and Pike have faced off this fall for the mayor’s seat. In the general election on Nov. 7, no candidates secured a majority, forcing the Dec. 5 runoff election under state law.

The runoff pitted the two candidates with the most votes in a head-to-head race 30 days after the election.

In November, Pierce received 3,549 votes, or 35.5% while Pike received 3,142 votes, or 31.4%. Former Mayor Stan Ridgeway received 2,651 votes, or 26.5%, and landlord Marc Degl’Innocent received 661 votes, or 6.6%.

Tuesday’s results suggest that most voters who supported Ridgeway or Degl’Innocent in November switched to Pike in December, an indication of dissatisfaction with Pierce. Pike gained 2,302 votes in the runoff, while Pierce gained 878.

Voter interest was higher than average for both elections. Ada County Elections reported that 9,873 of 26,610 registered Eagle voters turned out Tuesday, or 41.8%. That was down slightly from 10,086 of 23,395 in November, or 43.1% — which was 7 percentage points higher than the countywide average.

Pierce has kept raising money after Nov. 7. He received the maximum legal campaign contribution of $1,000 each from 11 donors. Among them is Brian Scott, a former NASCAR driver, great-grandson of Joe and Kathryn Albertson, and vice president of Alscott Real Estate, the Albertson family company that is developing a 34-house subdivision called Rocking A Ranch on the former Twin Oaks Farm pumpkin patch on North Eagle Road.

Other new $1,000 donors include Christie Weston, Darcy Horton and the Idaho Land Fund. Pierce leads Pike more than 2-to-1 in fundraising efforts and has collected $74,869 since May.

Pike, who shunned money from developers, has collected $34,504 since August. Most of his funding comes from himself and small donors under $500. Since the election he has received $1,000 each from four donors: Brent Sturgill, Republican state Rep. Edward “Ted” Hill of Eagle, and business owners Adam and Melissa Pitale.

A bitter campaign involves Idaho GOP chair, sheriff

The campaign became bitter at times.

Idaho Republican Party Chair Dorothy Moon sided with Pierce, issuing a statement late in the campaign saying “the Idaho Democrat Party is actively campaigning and sending text messages” supporting Pike. The party denied doing that. Pike said he is a conservative Christian who welcomed support from any party in the nonpartisan mayoral race.

Pike took note of a pro-Pierce flyer from a political action committee that quoted Sheriff Matt Clifford, whose department operates the Eagle Police Department under a contract with the city, praising Pierce. Clifford issued a statement saying he was “disappointed that my words and images have been used in an attempt to manipulate the residents of Eagle and the use of my position ... as a pawn in the politics of this election.”

Pike won’t seek to de-annex Avimor

Much of the conversation surrounding the battle for mayor has felt eerily similar to the election in 2019 that saw Pierce defeat incumbent Ridgeway. In that election, like in this year’s, the candidates have taken opposing stances on Avimor — the planned community northeast of the city.

The city annexed the community into its boundaries in March, despite years of opposition and protest. When it’s complete, Avimor could add nearly 9,000 homes to the city’s Rolodex.

In 2019, Pierce favored the annexation of Avimor while Ridgeway opposed it. Avimor’s managing partners poured over $20,000 into that race to dislodge Ridgeway and other city council members who opposed it, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting.

In 2023, developers continued to pour money into Pierce’s campaign war chest to defeat another candidate who opposed annexation: Pike. During the annexation vote, Pike was the only City Council member to oppose its absorption into the city.

Pike believed the city was not ready to welcome a community that could span some 17,000 acres among Ada, Gem and Boise counties. His concerns focused on the city’s ability to respond to emergencies amid already present staff shortages.

Pierce said developers were going to build Avimor regardless of whether it was in city limits and that the annexation added a bevy of taxpayers who could help pay for development.

In the runoff, Pierce easily won the voting precincts of the annexed Avimor land north of the city and much of western and southwestern Eagle. Pike carried central and eastern Eagle.

Pike told the Statesman that even though he voted against Avimor and that there was widespread opposition to it, he didn’t see a way to de-annex the land, as annexation was done legally and correctly.

“Pierce and the council did what they thought was needed,” Pike said.

Pike opposes low-income housing

City councilors and other officials have faced complicated questions over how to address growth over the last decade as the Treasure Valley continues to see an increase in population.

Some, like Boise, have focused on trying to increase density. Others have focused on spreading outwards.

Eagle is no different, and both candidates saw this differently.

Pike said his agenda includes opposition to low-income housing, “because it has no place in Eagle,” and said he doesn’t believe Eagle needs mass transit.

Pike hoped to bring in both small and large businesses to the city’s downtown core, while Pierce hoped to keep the city’s small-town and rural feel. One of Pike’s campaign focuses was to bring in a downtown association that could help bring in more business.

Pierce, meanwhile, aimed to keep the downtown area free of multistory buildings. He ran both campaigns focused on growing out, rather than up, to keep the city’s more quaint feel.

Pierce also said Eagle gained new parks, trails and other open spaces during his tenure, managed growth successfully and eliminated panhandling.

Business and Local News Editor David Staats contributed.

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