U.S. Senate
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Risch (R) | 285,256 | 65.29% |
| Nels Mitchell (D) | 151,662 | 34.71% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
About The Race
Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, an attorney, rancher, former longtime state senator and briefly Idaho’s governor, is seeking a second term. He’s largely ignored his Democratic challenger, Boise attorney Nels Mitchell, agreeing to only one debate on a Boise TV station.
The Candidates
Jim Risch
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 81
- City:
- Boise, Idaho
Education: After high school in his hometown of Milwaukee, attended the University of Wisconsin for two years before transferring to the University of Idaho. Received a bachelor's degree in forestry in 1965 and a law degree in 1968 from the University of Idaho.
Political Experience: Elected Ada County prosecuting attorney in 1970. Elected to the Idaho state Senate in 1974, serving until 1988 and again from 1995 to 2002. Served as lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2003 to 2006, then for seven months as governor when Gov. Dirk Kempthorne became Secretary of the Interior. Risch opted not to run for governor after serving out the term, running again for lieutenant governor and serving until 2008, when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate.
Work Experience: While serving as Ada County prosecuting attorney, he taught criminal law at Boise State University. He later worked as an attorney in private practice from 1975 to 2008.
Family: Married with three adult sons and nine grandchildren.
Campaign Fundraising: Raised $2.4 million, as of Oct. 1, 2020. Top contributors include Delta Airlines, Koch Industries and General Atomics.
Nels Mitchell
- Party:
- Democratic
- City:
- Boise
- Occupation:
- Attorney
Former regional trial counsel for Securities and Exchange Commission; University of Idaho law graduate (as is Risch) and former Boise High School student body president. Pledges to serve just one six-year term if elected; says Risch has lost touch with Idaho. Promises to work with Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson on wilderness legislation, which Risch has opposed.
Complete Coverage
Huckleberries: Craig’s new GOP job prompts potshot
Wonkette, the left-leaning online mag, said the selection of former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig to be finance chair for the Idaho Republican Party is “an inspiring holiday story of forgiveness and redemption.” Wonkette, of course, was being sarcastic. In a recent article, Wonkette’s Doctor Zoom continued: “It’s heartening to know that even after Craig was arrested in 2007 and charged with soliciting sex in a bathroom stall in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, then ordered to pay the Treasury Department roughly $242,000 after using campaign funds to cover his legal defense, Idaho Republicans are still willing to give Sen. Widestance a second chance.”
Eye on Boise: Capitol seeks to meet disabilities act with upgrades
Idaho’s state Capitol is due for $400,000 in accessibility upgrades, to bring the renovated historic structure in line with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. They range from new wheelchair-accessible seating areas in the fourth-floor public galleries of the House and Senate, to improved ramps and handrails in various locations, to new signs.
Risch, Mitchell vie for U.S. Senate in Idaho
BOISE – When he was Idaho’s governor for a scant seven months, Jim Risch was a whirlwind of activity, writing an unprecedented management plan for roadless areas, reforming the state Department of Health and Welfare and nursing education programs, and calling a special session of the Legislature to enact a sweeping and controversial shift of the state’s school funding system, raising the sales tax while lowering property taxes. But in the past six years serving as Idaho’s junior senator in Washington, D.C., Risch’s legislative accomplishments have been slim. According to the official records of Congress, he’s been the lead sponsor on 11 bills, just two of which have become law, both dealing with specific, small water projects in Southern Idaho. In the current Congress, he’s co-sponsored 188 bills, with the largest group aimed at reducing environmental regulations. In the 90 votes he has cast in the Senate since June, he voted “no” nearly two-thirds of the time.
Series of Idaho candidate debates scheduled
BOISE – A full slate of political debates stretches before Idaho voters who are mulling decisions on every statewide office in November. The “Idaho Debates,” a tradition of more than three decades, will feature seven debates broadcast live statewide on Idaho Public Television, co-sponsored by the Idaho Press Club and the League of Women Voters of Idaho.
Huckleberries: Senate candidate caught in Sandpoint high-speed chase
Nels Mitchell, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Sen. Jim Risch’s seat, didn’t know what to do when he was caught in the middle of a high-speed chase on Long Bridge in Sandpoint last Sunday. Nels, who was campaigning in North Idaho at the time, was enjoying a morning walk when 15-year-old Kamil Stuchlik, of Kailua, Hawaii, roared past him in an SUV with Bonner County deputies pursuing. “I didn’t know whether to jump in the lake (Pend Oreille) or not,” Nels told Huckleberries. “It was like something out of the movies.” Officers used a spike strip at the northern end of Long Bridge and a patrol car to finally stop Stuchlik. Who’s in a whole lot of trouble now. Teen heart throb
Idaho senators torn on Bowe Bergdahl swap
BOISE – Idaho senators who have pushed for years for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity in Afghanistan are in the odd position of objecting to the deal that bought Bergdahl’s freedom and joyfully welcoming his return. “He needed to be released, but not at this price,” Sen. Jim Risch said Thursday, aiming sharp criticism at the Obama administration over the release of five high-ranking Taliban officials held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in exchange for Bergdahl. “The price that was paid was too high. Those five people are people that have a lot of blood on their hands.”
New Yorker runs for Idaho Senate again; also files in Alaska, Oregon
BOISE – A Brooklyn, N.Y., attorney who’s never been to Idaho is not only running for a U.S. Senate seat from the state for the second time, he’s also running for Senate seats in Alaska and Oregon. “I’m just making myself available to the people of more than one state,” William Bryk said. “The voters have not yet taken advantage of the opportunity to retain my services, but one lives in hope.”
Lochsa land swap opposed by Forest Service retirees
A U.S. Forest Service land exchange that failed to win public support during years of study and hearings shouldn’t get pushed through Congress by Idaho’s delegation, a group of retired Forest Service employees says. Two dozen retirees sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month expressing misgivings about the Upper Lochsa exchange.