U.S. Representative, 1st District
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Russ Fulcher (R) | 229,923 | 66.20% |
| Rudy Soto (D) | 105,246 | 30.30% |
| Joe Evans (L) | 12,170 | 3.50% |
* 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
The Candidates
Russ Fulcher
- Party:
- Republican
Education: Graduated from Meridian High School in Meridian, Idaho in 1980. Received a bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from Boise State University in 1984 and 1988, respectively.
Political Experience: Served in the Idaho State Senate from 2005 to 2014, representing parts of Ada County. For six of those years, he served as Republican Caucus Leader. In 2014, he ran unsuccessfully in the GOP gubernatorial primary, losing to incumbent Gov. Butch Otter. Elected to the U.S. House in 2018, succeeding Rep. Raúl Labrador, who stepped down to run for governor.
Work Experience: Worked for 24 years in sales in the tech sector, including at Micron Technology and Preco Electronics, before going into commercial real estate.
Family: Divorced. Has three adult children.
Campaign Fundraising: $373,039, as of Sept. 9. Top contributors include the House Freedom Fund, the political action committee of the conservative Freedom Caucus; the agribusiness company Simplot; and the Majority Committee PAC, another GOP political action committee.
Rudy Soto
- Party:
- Democratic
Education: Started at Skyview High School in Nampa, Idaho and graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon in 2004. Received a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Portland State University in 2011.
Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for a nonpartisan Portland City Council seat as a college senior in 2010. This is his first time running for federal office.
Work Experience: Served in the Army National Guard for nine years in Oregon and the District of Columbia. Worked from 2011 to 2019 for national nonprofits advocating for Native American communities and as a legislative staffer for Democratic Reps. Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Norma Torres of California.
Family: No children, but "a serious girlfriend and a big family in the Treasure Valley."
Campaign Fundraising: $119,883 as of Sept. 9. Top contributors include the multinational law firm Dentons, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Puyallup Tribe.
Joe Evans
- Party:
- Libertarian
Education: Attended Meridian High School in Meridian, Idaho, and received a GED through Boise State University adult education program in 1985. Received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Boise State in 2016.
Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Idaho State Senate in 2018, losing to Republican Clifford Bayer. This is his first run for federal office.
Work Experience: Served for 14 years as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst before returning to Idaho to work as a data engineer for zData Inc.
Family: Has five children.
Campaign Fundraising: Evans told The Spokesman-Review he has raised $900 as of Sept. 9, below the minimum threshold for required campaign finance reporting.
Complete Coverage
Fulcher faces challenge from Democratic and Libertarian newcomers with military backgrounds
Rep. Russ Fulcher has a law-and-order message in his first bid for re-election to his seat in Congress representing western Idaho.
Washington, Idaho lawmakers from both sides of the aisle challenge Trump suggestion of election delay
Washington lawmakers and elections officials from both sides of the aisle challenged President Donald Trump’s Thursday morning tweet suggesting the United States should delay the November election, saying the president does not have the power to push back an election and that the vote-by-mail system is secure.
Northwest lawmakers pursue different priorities in new COVID relief package
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are set to return to the Capitol on Monday after a two-week break, facing a de facto deadline at the end of the month to pass another round of coronavirus relief, but Republicans and Democrats will first need to reconcile dramatically different visions for what the legislation should include.
Idaho lawmakers’ bill would let tribes, counties collect revenue from timber sales in Forest Service partnerships
New legislation introduced by two Idaho Republicans would expand a controversial federal program that lets states partner with the U.S. Forest Service for forest management projects, allowing tribes and counties to collect revenue from timber sales from public lands.
Senate Democrats block GOP police bill, accusing Republicans of bad faith
WASHINGTON – Democratic senators blocked a Republican-crafted policing bill from moving forward Wednesday, as both parties accused each other of playing politics amid nationwide calls to reform law enforcement.
Bob Norris wins Kootenai County sheriff’s primary; Fulcher to face Soto in race for Congress
All-mail balloting led to a boost in turnout and late returns in Kootenai County, where several Republican primaries were up for grabs. But favorites in the federal races emerged from early returns Tuesday night.
Russ Fulcher faces primary challenge for his seat representing North Idaho in U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher says he’s upheld conservative values and strong support for President Donald Trump while building strong relationships across Congress despite a strong political divide. His challenger, Nicholas Jones, believes his experience in small business makes him the better choice to represent the state in Congress.
Two Democrats running for North Idaho congressional seat say they have a chance to win in November
It’s been a dozen years since a Democrat last won an election to serve North Idaho in Congress. But two Democrats joined the race hoping for the chance to replace incumbent Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District in November.