State Representative, position A
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Heather Scott (R) | 14,406 | 62.54% |
| Kate McAlister (D) | 8,630 | 37.46% |
* 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
Controversial Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, a first-term lawmaker who made a splash by visiting the occupiers at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge standoff in Oregon and displaying a Confederate battle flag during a local parade, is being challenged by Kate McAlister, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. McAlister says she’s concerned about newcomers from the American Redoubt movement trying to influence local politics, with Scott as their standard-bearer, drawing on ideological rhetoric and focusing on federal, rather than local issues. “People just need to calm down,” she said. “I want good government, I want us to all get along.”
McAlister’s top issues are education, keeping public lands public, infrastructure improvements, economic development and new jobs. Scott says her top issues are, “Educating voters on how to engage and control government, strengthening our state sovereignty which provides benefits to business and families; eliminating Idaho’s dependency on federal dollars.” She favors transferring federal public lands to the state and wants to repeal Idaho’s state health insurance exchange. Scott has developed a network of strongly motivated supporters, many of whom make a point of openly carrying guns in public. She also has worked to educate her supporters about the state’s obscure administrative rules approval process, and worked hard last year in an unsuccessful effort to derail a popular conservation easement in the Clagstone Meadows area in North Idaho. She’s had harsh words for her fellow lawmakers from both parties. Scott says her constituents encouraged her to run again “to continue to spearhead educating the engaged voter,” and says she’s built an “extensive network of engaged citizens in District 1 and around the state.”
The Candidates
Heather Scott
- Party:
- Republican
- City:
- Blanchard, Idaho
Education: Sandy Valley High School, Magnolia, Ohio. Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Akron, 1994.
Political background: Incumbent state representative; elected in 2014, and now seeking re-election to a second term. Also served as a Republican precinct committeeman.
Work experience: Worked as an aquatic biologist for more than 15 years, including field work in Idaho, California, Colorado, Washington and Utah. Has quit work to focus full-time on being a state representative.
Family: Married, no children.
Kate McAlister
- Party:
- Democratic
- Age:
- 65
- City:
- Sandpoint, Idaho
Education: Graduated from Pocatello High School in 1977. Attended college at Idaho State University and Whitworth University. Certification from Boston College, Carroll School of Business, in corporate social responsibility.
Political background: Has served on the Sandpoint city urban renewal committee; city streets steering committee; Bonner-Boundary County Economic Summit Steering Committee; Airport Advisory Board; as vice-chair of the board of the Forrest Bird Charter School; and has been chairwoman of the board of the Selkirk Loop scenic byway, connecting Sandpoint with its sister city Nelson, B.C., for four years.
Work experience: President and CEO of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce for seven years. Also was president of the board for four years for Angels Over Sandpoint, a charitable organization of which she’s been a member for 15 years, that provides aid to the needy in the community. Manager of community investment for Itron, Spokane Valley, for 15 years before joining the Chamber. Worked in marketing for Columbia Paint and Coating in Spokane Valley for five years; worked in the development office at Whitworth University; and worked in a real estate office.
Family: Married. Has four grown children and eight grandchildren.
Complete Coverage
Reluctant Idaho lawmakers forward a bill to outlaw gambling machines that bring $3 million a year to state coffers
A reluctant House State Affairs Committee voted 10-5 Thursday to forward legislation to outlaw the Idaho Lottery’s “TouchTab” vending machines to the full House, but without the customary recommendation that it “do pass.”
Rep. Scott: Glad to have committees back, but speaker has ‘overreaching power,’ ‘unprofessional manner’
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, has released a statement on the reinstatement of her committee assignments today, saying, “This decision has been a long time coming and is good news for my district and the people throughout Idaho who believe in a republic form of government,”…
Idaho Rep. Heather Scott gets committee assignments back after apology
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, who lost all her committee assignments in the Idaho House after suggesting her female colleagues move ahead in leadership in return for sexual favors, got them back on Wednesday after apologizing.
Crane on Rep. Scott: ‘This issue is taken care of, and we’re done’
In a discussion with reporters today, House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said the House GOP leadership wanted Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, to meet with a half-dozen female representatives who had specific concerns, before restoring her committee assignments. That meeting, facilitated by Caucus Chairman…
Huckleberries: And here’s how a good guy caught the bad guys
This isn’t the way to read a book. Chapter 9 first. Then, Chapters 12 through 15. And back to Chapter 1. But “The Street Agent” by former FBI agent Wayne Manis isn’t like other books.
Poll: Keep Scott committee-less
In the Weekend Wild Card, A near supermajority of Hucks Nation says outspoken Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, shouldn’t be given her committee assignments back. Today’s Poll: Do you support/oppose President Trump’s order that would stop flow of immigrants from Muslim countries?
Eye on Boise: Idaho’s Medicaid transport contractor draws complaints from around state; Idaho House speaker tells Rep. Heather Scott they should talk honestly
When the Idaho House and Senate Health and Welfare committees held an open public hearing on health and welfare issues on Friday, people flocked from all parts of the state to complain about the Idaho Medicaid program’s new non-emergency medical transportation provider, Veyo.
While Bonner GOP Central Committee backs Scott, Madison GOP CC wants its reps to fulfill their committee duties
First, the Bonner County Republican Central Committee passed a resolution supporting Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, and asking that her committee assignments be reinstated, after they were revoked following her disparaging comments…
Eye on Boise: State Rep. Heather Scott forces full reading of Idaho House’s first bill for ‘transparency’ sake
State Rep. Heather Scott says her apology for making a disparaging remark about other female legislators may never be enough for the speaker of the House.
Huckleberries: Rep. Heather Scott would do well to channel the late Helen Chenoweth-Hage
Is outspoken tea party/Redoubt sweetheart Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, channeling the late Helen Chenoweth-Hage? That was a question that came up at Huckleberries Online after Scott got in trouble with House GOP leaders for saying female legislators acquired power through sexual favors. There are similarities between Rep. Scott and the three-term former congresswoman from Idaho’s 1st District. But there are also key differences.
Idaho Rep. Scott clashes with House speaker again
Just a day after she issued a statement apologizing to every House member about her earlier disparaging comments about fellow female legislators, Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, launched a Facebook attack on Thursday, complaining that House Speaker Scott Bedke didn’t immediately restore her committee assignments.
Huckleberries: Good people must stand up when hatred is on the march
The canceled neo-Nazi parade in Whitefish, Mont., this month reminds this columnist of a 1999 parade in downtown Coeur d’Alene, led by Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler. The racist from Hayden Lake was then 82 and still spewing hatred. He attracted less than two dozen to the march, including a baby in a stroller and her 6-year-old sister. The march also attracted a large crowd of chanting protesters.