Primary elections for registered party members are drawing closer (May 15). How well do you know the candidates for District 34? Elaine King announced her run in December, followed shortly by Britt Raybould to fill a vacancy in seat B by Representative Dell Raybould. Until last week, Representative Ron Nate of seat A was unchallenged in this year's election. But Doug Ricks announced he will once again run for that seat. In 2016 he narrowly lost to Nate by 167 votes.
"Two years ago I was a little late getting into the race and wasn't as organized as I should've been," Ricks said. In light of his narrow run in the last election, Ricks expressed his confidence that this time the constituents of District 34 will defer to his views, which he believes to be not quite as hard to the right as his opponent's.
Ricks says he was raised on a farm and started a computer retail store in Rexburg in 1987, running it for 13 years, after which he took a job with BYU-Idaho. He works now with Disabilities Services at the University, and explained his vested interest in education.
"I do support the legislature's commitment to increase funding for education," Ricks said. "We need to find innovative ways to provide a quality education here in Idaho for less." In addition, Ricks expressed his focus on improving the economic status of eastern Idaho. He says there is a lot more that can be done to attract businesses and encourage growth.
You can listen to the full interview with Doug Ricks below.