Heads up, voters! See who’s running in Ada County’s May 2024 GOP and Democratic primaries

In two months, voters across Ada County will send finalists for county commissioner, sheriff and prosecutor on to the general election.

With multiple candidates who have previously held public office — including one who was ousted last year from his position as a school superintendent in North Idaho — the Republican primary race for commissioner from southern Ada County will be one to watch this May. Incumbent first-termer Tom Dayley faces two well-known challengers: Branden Durst and Sharon Ullman.

Durst served as a Democratic state legislator from 2006 to 2013. He later switched parties and worked as an education policy analyst for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, which fights “the state’s socialist public policies.”

He spent three combative months in 2023 as superintendent of the West Bonner School District in Idaho’s Panhandle. He resigned after voters recalled two trustees who supported him and after the State Board of Education refused to let him receive an emergency certification to remain as superintendent, saying he wasn’t qualified.

Ullman was an Ada County commissioner from 2001 to 2002, and again from 2009 to 2013. She ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010 and for commissioner in 2018 and 2022, losing to Dayley in the May 2022 primary. Dayley is a former state representative from Boise.

In interviews with the Statesman, Dayley, Ullman and Durst expressed a shared desire to minimize the county budget — but offered diverging approaches.

Dayley highlighted programs and “specialty courts” under his tenure that aim to minimize public safety-related costs — which account for over 60% of the county’s budget — by keeping juveniles and others out of the criminal justice system.

He also cited efforts to “fine-tune” the number of county personnel to achieve zero growth in the overall number – despite the rapid growth of the county’s population.

County officials must “tighten our belts” amid inflation and rising costs, he said.

“My theme in public service has always been to empower people and limit government,” he said.

For Ullman, these efforts at cost-cutting haven’t gone far enough.

“The county budget and spending have gotten bloated” since she served as commissioner from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2009 to 2013, she said.

She also took issue with the legality and wisdom of the county’s decision last year to spend $46 million on building a new coroner’s facility, arguing that officials could have instead purchased and outfitted a building next door that was on the market for $8 million.

Durst flagged cutting the county government’s size and budget as one of his top concerns, along with addressing what he sees as the effects of the border crisis in Ada County, including the fentanyl crisis and the “strain” on public services and the county’s social safety net.

He said education would be another top priority. “I feel like our county has two of the largest school districts in the state of Idaho, and no one on the county commission currently has children in school … and I think that’s a problem,” he said.

The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reported that Durst has said public schools should compete with private ones for state funds, religious schools should receive public money, and church should not be separated from state. “On X, where he’s posted more than 19,000 times, Durst has said transgender people are living in sin and Idaho should ban gay pride flags,” The Spokesman-Review reported.

Asked whether the controversy around his tenure as superintendent may harm his campaign for commissioner, Durst said, “I think it’s only a controversy if you want to make it a controversy.”

“The reality is that my work as a superintendent was actually very strong,” he said, citing reforms to the district’s budgeting processes and labor practices. “To the extent that those who wish to see me fail try to bring them up and make them an issue in this campaign, that’s for them to decide to do.”

Dayley, Ullman and Durst are joined on the GOP ballot by Heather L. Luther. The winner will face the winner of the Democratic primary, which has two candidates: Devin Gutierrez and Jennifer Andrews-Kelley.

The winner will represent District 3, which reaches from the Canyon County line east to the Elmore County line, encompassing southern parts of Meridian and Boise. But commissioner candidates are on the ballot countywide.

District 1, sheriff, prosecutor contests

District 1: Incumbent Republican Commissioner Ryan Davidson faces a primary challenge from Clyde Dornier. The winner will face the winner of a three-way Democratic primary contest among Graham Carter, Jonathan Lashley and Preston K. Fischer.

As with District 3, this race will be on the ballot countywide. District 1 represents mostly Boise, roughly north of Interstate 84 and east of Idaho 55.

Sheriff: Incumbent Republican Matt Clifford has no primary challenger. In November, he will face the Constitution Party’s Doug Traubel, an advocate of “constitutional sheriffs” whom Clifford defeated in the May GOP primary in 2022; and Victor McCraw, a Democrat whom Clifford beat in the November 2022 general election.

Prosecutor: Incumbent Republican Jan Bennetts has no primary challenger. She will face Democrat Jonathan Baldauf in November.

List of candidates for county office

Here are the candidates who met Friday’s deadline for filing their candidacies for commissioner, sheriff and prosecutor. All terms last four years unless otherwise specified.

Commissioner District 1 (two-year term)

Ryan Davidson (incumbent) (Republican)

Clyde Dornier (Republican)

Graham Carter (Democrat)

Jonathan Lashley (Democrat)

Preston K. Fischer (Democrat)

Commissioner District 3

Heather D. Luther (Republican)

Tom Dayley (incumbent) (Republican)

Sharon M. Ullman (Republican)

Branden Durst (Republican)

Devin Gutierrez (Democrat)

Jennifer Andrews-Kelley (Democrat)

Sheriff

Matthew Clifford (incumbent) (Republican)

Victor McCraw (Democrat)

Doug Traubel (Constitution)

Prosecutor

Jan Bennetts (incumbent) (Republican)

Jonathan Baldauf (Democrat)

Business and Local Government Editor David Staats contributed.