Todd Achillies’ campaign for senate brought hope of a new face to Idaho’s delegation as an independent. While the efforts were immense and initial polls showed a chance of success, these measures quickly fell short when election night finally rolled around. As most of America was experiencing a new party in charge and riding what has been dubbed the “blue tsunami,” Idaho remains one of the few states to be left unchanged in the federal government.
At the beginning of election night, initial votes showed unexpected success for Achillies as the independent starting with a 52% and incumbent Jim Risch, the winner of the senate seat in Idaho’s republican primary and the current incumbent, with a 39.5%. As the night went on, however, the margin quickly closed and Jim Risch won the reelection with 56.5% of the vote. Achillies ended with 33.5% disappointing prior to the expectations of success. While Achillies was not expected to fully win the election by the general voter population, his campaign set expectations of a closer race.
Achillies was not the only independent who lost across the US amidst the major democratic victories who ran on wide scale anti-Trump sentiments. Achillies held a similar strategy within his advertising basing much of his campaign on why he believed Risch is unfit for office, capturing the attention of Risch’s adversaries.
Achillies also used part of the anti-Washington ideology in his campaign to capture the attention of moderate or democrat voters in the state. Despite these efforts however, they were not enough to flip one of Idaho’s long held republican incumbent seats despite the success of other opposition candidates in historically republican states such as Texas or Kansas.
While Achillies’s campaign fell short in the eyes of hopeful voters, the bid for Idaho’s District 2 House seat brought a closer margin between the democrat and republican candidate. Mike Simpson won reelection for a 15th term by 51.6% of the votes. Ellie Gilbreath, the democratic candidate, brought tough competition in some counties, pulling in 40% of the votes overall.
While Idaho is unexpected by most of its citizens to change representation across different party lines any time soon, the closing of the gap between Republican and democrat or independent candidates in recent years could indicate a deeper desire for change spreading across the state.
While Achillies did not win the election, his campaign did receive a lot of attention and support across the state. If the same thinking and ideas continue, the future could bring new faces, or even new parties to Washington, D.C.
The most recent midterm elections brought little change to the state’s leadership however; it also indicates change may be on the horizon. As younger voters continue to get more involved, the change may come faster than expected.
Amelie Dobler can be reached at [email protected]