GARDEN CITY, Idaho — Incumbent Ali Rabe is hoping to reclaim her spot in the senate, going against Justin "Justice" Mitson for State senator District 16. Rabe is the only democratic candidate endorsed by the Ada County Democrats in the primary election.
- Mitson is describing himself as an "Alternative to the establishment democrat," focused on fighting for free speech and controlling government spending. For more on his campaign, click here
- Rabe is the executive director of Jesse Tree hoping to continue fighting for more affordable housing and women's health rights regarding abortion bans. For more on her campaign, click here
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Incumbent Senator Ali Rabe is hoping to keep her seat in the senate as challenger Justin Mitson looks to bring an alternative option to Idaho's democratic party after changing party affiliation last year.
"I am much more conservative than typical hyper-woke democrats that are out there," said Mitson.
"I'm the only candidate in this race that's been endorsed by the Ada County Democrats. I'm the only Democrat in a primary that has been endorsed by the Democrats," said Rabe.
"I am an alternative to kind of the establishment democrat party out there," said Mitson.
I asked both Candidates what major issues they'd plan to prioritize.
"Just looking to work on the issues that matter most to Idahoans, those kitchen table topics like housing, transportation, public education," said Rabe.
"What we have to do is we need to control spending; we need to keep an eye out on how we can improve housing and we just need to do what we can to get our economy back running," said Mitson.
Senator Rabe is a born and raised Idahoan who serves as the executive director of Jesse Tree, a nonprofit that offers rental assistance to prevent evictions.
The lack of affordable housing is a huge issue she wants to see improve in the gem state.
"As the cost of housing increases and the cost of renting has increased by 40% in recent years and we are seeing rising numbers of evictions and homelessness, and I don't want to see Idaho or my hometown end up like other cities that have failed to manage the problem," said Rabe.
Mitson expresses the same sentiment that Idaho needs to find affordable solutions.
"We have got to address the housing needs that we have for all Idahoans, especially lower-income Idahoans," said Mitson.
Other topics like freedom of speech are things Mitson wants to see protected.
"Any kind of censorship. I'm totally anti-censorship. There's a couple of bills that we're looking to censor, you know, platforms like TikTok and those kind of things. TikTok has its own problems, I don't like it. But anytime someone says you can't say this, that is a method for censorship, and I don't tolerate that," said Mitson.
Rabe wants to address censorship in another way and fight for women's health rights.
"Continue to try to find ways to protect our libraries which have been under attack in recent years as well as women's health. There's also a need to create some health exceptions for our current abortion ban for women who are pregnant," said Rabe.
