TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Legislative District 24's incumbent Senator Glenneda Zuiderveldis facing a primary challenge from attorney Alex Caval. The Republican Primary is on May 21st.
- Zuiderveld and Caval attended a Legislative Candidate Forum for Districts 24, 25 and 26 that was hosted by the College of Southern Idaho. Full video of that event can be seen here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
First elected in 2022, District 24's Senator Glenneda Zuiderveld was part of the largest freshmen class the Idaho legislature has ever seen.
Now as an incumbent, she faces a primary challenge from attorney Alex Caval.
The candidates can agree on one thing: they don't agree on much.
"She'll be completely opposite of me," Zuiderveld said.
"It's basically night and day on the positions that we hold,” Caval told Idaho News 6. “It's probably reflective of the general fight that's happening within the Republican party between different wings of the party."
Caval's family came to Twin Falls as part of a refugee resettlement program in the 1980s.
“Growing up in a repressive dictatorship, we didn't have freedoms, and I said to myself I would be damned if I would ever lose them," Caval said.
She says her 16 years practicing law as a bankruptcy attorney gives her an edge.
"When you're talking about policies that impact 2 million people in the state of Idaho, I don't know if that's how you want to be doing it: on how your heartstrings feel or what makes most emotional sense to you,” Caval said. “We still have things like the Constitution that we need to honor and make sure guide us when we're crafting statutes."
Zuiderveld, who was raised in Jerome, says her decision-making starts with her faith.
“I have a strong biblical worldview and so I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I am a bible believing, you know, so I have a strong biblical point of view, and that that really helps me get through a lot of those decisions that I'm making,” Zuiderveld explained.
Two Republicans representing different aspects of the same party
"We depend on the Federal government to pay 40% of our budget right now,” Zuiderveld said. “And with the Federal government growing its national debt $1 trillion every hundred days at this moment, I would like to see us get away from that as much as possible because we're losing local control."
Caval, meanwhile, says there are times to invest and times to cut back.
"You need to balance your expenses, but you need to make investments for the future,” Caval said. “And how that translates into public life, that's where you're going to need to make investments in education and infrastructure."
According to the Idaho GOP, Zuiderveld conforms to the platform 95%. In the Magic Valley, many of those elected to office tend towards the moderate side of the party.
"What has happened was, they've gone further left, which makes us look like we've gone further right," Zuiderveld said.
