Who’s running for Idaho Legislative District 11? Hear from the candidates

Becca Savransky
·2 min read

Voters in Canyon County this GOP primary will soon decide whether to support Republican legislators’ reelection campaigns to return to the Capitol.

Legislative District 11 incumbents up for reelection in the May 21 primary include Rep. Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell, who has championed investments in education along with Sen. Chris Trakel, R-Caldwell, who will both face opponents in the District 11 GOP primary. The second House seat in District 11 is wide open, with two people running. District 11 includes Caldwell and some unincorporated areas of Canyon County.

Yamamoto, who has served two terms, is running for another term against Kent Marmon, a former Caldwell City Council member. A retired teacher and administrator, Yamamoto has pushed legislation to better fund schools and has spoken out against bills that would remove books from libraries and divert money from public schools to private and religious schools. Marmon, who also ran for the seat two years ago, describes himself as the “conservative choice.” The winner in the GOP primary will run against Democrat Anthony Porto in the November general election.

For the second House seat, Sarah Chaney, a Caldwell business manager, will face Lucas Cayler, a Caldwell service technician. The Republican nominee will run against Democratic candidate Marisela Pesina in November.

In the Senate, Trakel is competing against challenger Camille Blaylock, of Caldwell. Trakel is a first-term senator who made headlines last year when he disrupted a school board meeting over a policy that would have allowed students to use the bathrooms that corresponded with their gender identity.

As a senator, Trakel has pushed other bills that target the LGBTQ+ community, including one that bars government entities from compelling employees to use pronouns that don’t correspond with someone’s biological sex. The winner in the Senate will face off against Democrat Toni Ferro.

The GOP has a closed primary system, so only those who are registered Republicans can vote.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each of the candidates in contested races on a variety of issues, including their priorities, what they wish the Legislature had done this session and what issues they think aren’t being discussed enough.

Their responses are copied below, unedited.

Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesman’s Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates’ responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.

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