Democrat Tom Hearn offers his congratulations to representative-elect Paul Amador via Facebook:

"I want to congratulate Paul Amador on his victory tonight. He is a good man and he ran a hard fought and very honorable campaign. He will, in my opinion, be a vast improvement over the incumbent Kathy Sims and I'm sure he will do an excellent job as our new Representative. I knew this would be a tough campaign. Running as a Democrat in Kootenai County is an uphill battle these days. I had a great team working with me, I have no regrets about making this race, and I am very grateful for all the support I received. Let's now support our new legislator in his important job representing the citizens of Coeur d'Alene."

DFO: We had 2 good candidates in this race. Either would have been an upgrade to the position. Coeur d'Alene could have the best legislative delegation in North Idaho during the 2017, if state Sen. Mary Souza can work with visionary leaders like Mayor Steve Widmyer and if Reps. Luke Malek and Amador continue to put their constituents ahead of partisan politics.