2024 election results

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

The 2024 general election was historic by every measure. Former-President Donald Trump won both the popular and Electoral College vote, besting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by a comfortable margin and — once he’s inaugurated in January 2025 — becoming only the second president in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office.

Trump, a Republican, accomplished his victory despite numerous felony convictions; two impeachments during his first term; numerous scandals, including alleged sexual assaults; and the attempted overturning of the 2020 election, which prompted a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 that triggered months of congressional hearings into his culpability for fomenting the attack.

Nationally, Republicans tallied up big wins in Congress, gaining three seats in the U.S. Senate for a 52-member majority and picking up one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. As of press time, the GOP had 205 House seats to the Democrats’ 190, with numerous races still undecided. Either party needs 218 seats to win a majority. Meanwhile, 27 states have Republican governors, compared to 23 with Democrats in the top executive office.

The significance of the widespread GOP wins wasn’t lost on MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, who on Nov. 6 called Republicans’ election night “the biggest red wave I’ve seen since Reagan’s victory in ’84.”

Idaho’s ‘red wave’

The rightward trend on election night continued down ballot across the nation, and while unsurprising in Idaho, it also translated into record-breaking voter turnout numbers with consistent partisan trends throughout the various contests.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher retained his seat in Congressional District 1 against Democratic challenger Kaylee Peterson with 325,771 votes to 115,293 — or 71.2% to 25.2%. Likewise, in C.D. 2, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson won against Democrat David Roth with 249,387 votes to 124,525 — a similar, though somewhat tighter, margin of 61.6% to 30.7%.

In the Idaho Legislature, the Republican Party flipped four seats from Democrats statewide, strengthening its already powerful supermajority. Even Ada County — the state’s highest population center, with the capital of Boise as its seat — saw a reliably Democratic seat flip to the GOP.

Republican voters also turned out in big numbers to approve a constitutional amendment explicitly stating that non-U.S. citizens cannot vote in Idaho elections (which is already prohibited by federal law) and reject Proposition 1 — the so-called Open Primaries Initiative, which would have created a single primary election in which all voters could participate regardless of party affiliation, and a general election determined by ranked-choice voting. (See Page 5 for more on those results). 

The “yes” vote on the constitutional amendment amounted to 565,303 votes to 305,156 (64.9% to 35.1%), and Prop. 1 failed with 611,854 votes against to 265,151 in favor (69.8% to 30.2%). 

Statewide, turnout totaled 904,884 votes cast, amounting to 84.6% of registered voters — 3% higher than the 2020 general election and almost 9% higher than in 2016.

That was mirrored in Bonner County, where 29,929 ballots were cast, totaling 86.63% of registered voters.

“It was enormous,” Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale told the Reader. “I believe it’s more than any other presidential election. … It beat the last turnout by thousands.”

Local election results

In Legislative District 1 — which includes Bonner and Boundary counties — that turnout produced big wins for Republican candidates. 

Republican Senate candidate Jim Woodward bested Independent challenger Dan Rose with 23,402 votes to 7,286 (76.3% to 23.7%); incumbent Republican House 1A Rep. Mark Sauter won 24,189 votes to Democrat Karen Matthee’s 6,923 (77.7% to 22.3%); and Republican Cornel Rasor — who is serving out the remainder of former-House 1B Republican Rep. Sage Dixon’s term following his resignation in September — overcame Democrat Kathryn Larson with 22,565 votes to 9,067 (71.3% to 28.7%).

Similar margins were seen in the Bonner County races. Republican Brian Domke won a two-year term as District 1 Bonner County commissioner with 20,127 votes to Democrat Steve Johnson’s 8,428 (70.49% to 29.51%), while Republican Ron Korn — who is filling the District 3 seat left vacant by the resignation of former-Commissioner Luke Omodt in September — secured a four-year term on the board with 19,368 votes to Independent challenger Glenn Lefebvre’s 8,365 (69.84% to 30.16%). 

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, County Assessor Dennis Engelhardt and Prosecuting Attorney Louis Marshall all ran unopposed. Finally, a total of 18,818 voters (82.5%) voted to retain Magistrate Judge Tera A. Harden.

Meanwhile, all three local ballot measures fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority to pass, including West Bonner County School District’s one-year $1.1 million supplemental levy, which failed with 4,332 voting against, compared to 3,921 in favor (52.49% to 47.51%). 

Ponderay voters also rejected the renewal of a 1% local option sales tax, which had been previously approved to support funding for large-scale projects such as the Field of Dreams sports complex and creating a connection between the community and its lakeshore. The measure fell short with 267 votes against and 263 in favor (50.38% to 49.62%).

Finally, the city of Sandpoint’s proposed 1% local option tax — fronted to fund long-needed street reconstruction and maintenance, paving, stormwater infrastructure, sidewalk and pathway improvements, gravel and grading for alleys, as well as property tax relief — was turned down with 2,092 in favor to 2,085 against (50.08% to 49.92%). If approved, that tax would have been in place for 25 years and raised an estimated $3 million per year.

Responding to the local results

In a phone call with the Reader, Sauter said, “I’m grateful for the support that I’ve had through this process. So, many thanks to the community and let’s get to work and work for our district. That’s really what it’s all about. You get reelected and you jump in and immediately say, ‘What bills do we need to run and what are our highest priorities?’”

Sauter said that by the morning after the election he’d already heard feedback from constituents asking for action on property and grocery taxes, school funding and facilities, and women’s health exceptions. 

“It’s time to get to work,” he said.

Matthee told the Reader that she is “thankful for all the support I received from numerous volunteers and all of those who voted for me. My intent from the beginning was to shine a light on the issues that so often go unaddressed here in North Idaho. I think my campaign did that. And I will continue to do that as a local Democratic activist, working on a 2026 ballot initiative to restore our reproductive rights in Idaho and so many other issues.”

In a message to constituents shared with the Reader, Rasor wrote, “I would like to express my gratefulness to God for His kindness, to the people of Bonner County for their unprecedented turnout and to Kathryn Larson for running a respectful campaign.

“Thank you to all the people who contributed, knocked [on] doors, made phone calls, encouraged me, prayed for me and ensured that we had a marvelous turnout. Legislative District 1 is truly a wonderful place to live.

“I intend to work hard for the citizens of this district and I count it a privilege to serve.”

Korn did not respond to a request for comment from the Reader, but wrote on his Facebook page (in part): “I am blessed and humbled by yesterday’s vote outcome.

“Our Lord blessed our community and our nation yesterday! We must have faith in Him and change our wicked ways. We must come back together as Americans and fight for what is right to save our republic. 

“I give the glory to God for laying His hand upon us, lifting us up from the evil and giving me the wisdom, strength and courage to fight this battle,” he wrote, later thanking supporters for  standing by him “through the lies and wickedness of a political campaign.” 

“Now we as a community move forward working together to make our county stronger, more liberty minded and a better place to live,” Korn wrote.

In an email to the Reader, Lefebvre wrote, “I mostly want to thank my supporters. I am very proud of our grassroots campaign and I couldn’t have done it without them. The outcome reflects the very reason I ran, which is that I don’t recognize the Bonner County community I grew up in. However, I won’t give up hope for Bonner County. Thanks again to all my supporters.”

Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm responded to the defeat of the 1% LOT, telling the Reader in an email that he appreciated the voters’ consideration of the measure and recognized that it informed City Hall’s understanding of the priorities and needs of residents.

“Over the next few months, I will discuss the subject with the City Council and we will determine through survey and outreach to our residents whether to bring the subject back to the voters on a future ballot measure,” he wrote. 

That would include taking a second look at such elements as the duration of the tax, expanding the scope of the projects to be funded or learning what additional information would be helpful for voters. 

“In the interim, with a 23% increase in health insurance cost for employees this year, the city will continue to be strained to address our backlog of road deficiencies,” Grimm wrote. “With a 3% cap per Idaho Code on property tax increases and operational costs rising far faster, the situation is difficult to say the least. We will do our best to allocate our available funding to address the most significant road failures and continue pothole repair throughout town.”

Candidates Woodward, Rose, Larson, Domke and Johnson did not respond to a request for comment by press time, nor did Ponderay Mayor Steve Geiger.

How it all went down

According to Rosedale, who oversees the county Elections Office, this election saw an uncharacteristically high number of absentee and early voting: 5,753 and 5,494 ballots, respectively.

“That’s more than a full third of our votes altogether,” he said. “That’s very unusual.”

Rosedale attributed those high participation numbers to the county’s rapid population growth over the past four years and the intense interest surrounding the presidential election.

That translated into busy polling places — “Everybody was hammered. I think every precinct set precinct records,” he said.

Though busier than in past election cycles, Rosedale added that there were no problems at the polls, which were fully staffed, and the only complaints his office received were related to alleged electioneering — specifically the question of whether wearing politically themed clothing constituted a violation of the state’s rules, which limits campaign-related activity to 250 feet from a polling location.

“The secretary of state said passive wearing of stuff is not electioneering. It’s the active act of electioneering [that’s not allowed],” he said. “You can’t talk to someone about a candidate, you can’t hand out flyers, you can’t stop cars within 250 feet [of a polling place].

“Whether it’s a wise or a nice thing to do is a whole other story. … I would not ever recommend people do that,” Rosedale added. “It’s distasteful for certain people — even people of the same party.”

Overall, he urged civility after a particularly fractious election.

“As soon as you’re done voting, go and take your neighbor who votes differently from you out to dinner, because they’re still your neighbor,” he said. “We do all live in the same place.”

All election results are preliminary until canvassed, which is scheduled to take place Thursday, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. in the third floor Bonner County commissioners meeting room at the county administration building (1500 U.S. 2, in Sandpoint). The public is invited to attend. For more state and local election results, visit voteidaho.gov/election-results.