GARDEN CITY, Idaho — The race for Idaho’s District 16 State Representative Seat A features incumbent Democrat Sonia Galaviz and Republican challenger Chandler Stewart Hadraba.
- Representative Sonia Galaviz advocates for public education in the face of voucher threats.
- Republican challenger Chandler Hadraba introduces innovative ideas to boost tourism revenue across the state.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The race for Idaho’s District 16 State Representative, Seat A, features incumbent Democrat Sonia Galavis against Republican challenger Chandler Hadraba. Both candidates offer different platforms on issues like education and abortion.
“My North Star has been and will continue to be protecting our public schools, making sure the profession has what it needs, making sure we're addressing the pipeline for teachers and administrators, and really safeguarding the funds that are needed to run public schools and safeguard against vouchers,” says State Representative Sonia Galavis.
Galavis, a public school teacher at Whittier Elementary, has dedicated much of her first term to preserving public education. She sees the current legislative push for voucher programs as a direct threat to Idaho's school system.
“So, I mean, we've seen the last couple of years efforts to defund public education through vouchers, whether it's through an education savings account or through a tax credit. However you want to slice it, it would mean millions of dollars being pulled out of the general fund and millions of dollars not available to go towards our current K-12 public school system,” says Representative Galavis.
And while Galavis is focused on classrooms, Hadraba is taking a different approach. He’s looking to shake things up, from promoting judicial reform to making Idaho the number one destination for Bigfoot tourism.
"I really want to make Idaho number one for Bigfoot tourism. I think this is a creative way to have our rural communities and remote areas benefit more from tourism in such a great state,” says Republican candidate for State Representative Chandler Hadraba.
Hadraba’s proposal to make Bigfoot Idaho’s state animal — and even offer Bigfoot hunting tags — stands in contrast to more conventional campaign promises, but he argues that his ideas can bring more tourism revenue to rural areas in Idaho.
"Representative Galavis is representing herself as somebody who can reach across the aisle and be bipartisan, and there's nothing further from the truth,” says Hadraba.
Beyond tourism and judicial reform, Hadraba has called for more support for unplanned pregnancies. He tells me he thinks Idaho’s current safety net for expecting mothers isn’t enough.
Hadraba: "It’s time for the pro-life community to put up or shut up. And I think one way we can do that is to extend the childcare tax credit to expectant mothers,” says Hadraba.
Galavis, meanwhile, has been a vocal advocate for reproductive rights, standing firmly against Idaho’s abortion ban. She expressed concerns over the impacts on healthcare providers and the overall health of the mother.
“That is not sustainable for our state. We need to address the statute that will protect their life and their health so they're able to be pregnant with some confidence in this state,” says Galavis.
