CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
2026 general Election By Reader Staff Before each election, the Sandpoint Reader reaches out to candidates in contested legislative and local races to ask questions about how they would represent the constituents in the...
Tagged: us constitution
Politics versus civics
By Gil BeyerReader Contributor None of my children want to discuss “politics.” I’ll buy that. I personally believe that a significant percentage of the individuals in office or running for office are self-serving, power-hungry...
Voting rights were a Republican thing, but with SAVE Act, they’re now in the GOP’s rearview mirror
By Jim JonesIdaho Capital Sun Voting rights in America were a Republican thing for more than 100 years, but the GOP made an about-face on the issue beginning with President Richard Nixon’s “Southern strategy.”...
Going vertical
Keeping elected officials honest at all levels By Stan NormanReader Contributor There is a disturbing trend developing in the Idaho Legislature. Several bills have been introduced in the House that would effectively take power...
Civic education is needed to ensure majority rule
By Georgia EarleyReader Contributor As of November 2025, 60-70% of U.S. citizens said our country is headed in the wrong direction. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, since 1964 polls have shown...
Separating Kirk and state
By Dave BrittonReader Contributor I write this on “Constitution Day,” Sept. 17, 2025, in the wake of last night’s monthly session of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee at which the chair, Scott Herndon,...
Nazis and nonviolence
By Timothy Braatz Reader Contributor In 1939, Nazi officials established gas chambers and began murdering tens of thousands of German citizens they considered “unfit.” The victims of the so-called “T-4” program included elderly Germans...
An open letter to the fascist regime attempting to take over our country
By Nishelle Gonzales Reader Contributor I have sat back and watched this new administration the last few months with horror and grief. I had a realization today that brings me hope that things will...
I can’t in good conscience blame Trump
By Clarice M. McKenney Reader Contributor For more than 50 years I have voted Democrat, and most of those years I was unable to be an activist, be involved in protests or actively support...
Utah voucher law found unconstitutional, Idaho’s law is also vulnerable
By Ben Olson Reader Contributor A district judge in Utah issued a marvelous decision on April 18, finding Utah’s school voucher law to be unconstitutional. The 60-page decision was based on a variety of...
