Political newcomers Marco Erickson and David Roth seeking District 33 Seat B

IDAHO FALLS — After the 2020 primary defeat of District 33 Seat B incumbent Rep. Bryan Zollinger, two political newcomers have stepped up hoping to take the seat.

Republican Marco Erickson and Democrat David Roth are on the ballot for the general election.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. Only some were edited for length.

To learn more about Roth, visit his website here and his Facebook here.

To learn more about Erickson, visit his website here and his Facebook here.

Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work and any prior experience in public office.

Roth I am a single dad of two amazing boys that I adopted in 2017 from foster care. I grew up in Idaho Falls and live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I have spent most of my career in education and working with children. I also am currently licensed to sell real estate in Idaho and have been in Utah. I have been a Democrat since I was old enough to vote. I lived away from Idaho Falls for a while and served as a Precinct Captain in Salt Lake City. I have a degree in Marketing and am nearly done with a Masters of Education in Administration. I have always been an active member of the community and currently serve on the board of the Bonneville Youth Development Coalition.

Erickson My wife of 18 years and I have 5 children 4 boys and a girl ages 17- 6. We moved to Idaho Falls in 2003 where we bought our first home and I worked as a mental health professional. I received my master’s degree from Walden University in psychology and eventually, co-owned a clinic with a psychiatrist and later worked for the State of Nevada at the Department of Education, and Public and Behavioral Health managing over $50 million of state and federal funded school and community-based programs. During my tenure as a government employee, I frequently had to report to the legislature, attend committee meetings, and build state government budgets. I currently serve on the local community suicide prevention board, and the Region 7 Juvenile Justice Council and work at a community coalition that focuses on drug and alcohol prevention, community service and teen leadership development. I also attend the Region 7 behavioral health board and children’s mental health subcommittee meetings on a regular basis.

What are your proudest accomplishments in your personal life or career?

Erickson I always say my children. They are great community leaders and set examples for others. I cannot be prouder. In my career, my proudest achievements are the lives I have been able to help. I love helping and serving others and I have been very blessed to have a long career getting to do what I love and that is helping people and saving lives.

Roth The proudest moment of my life was when I stood in the courtroom finalizing the adoption of my two boys. There is no greater responsibility than that of caring for others.

Why are you a member of the Republican/Democrat/Independent/Other party? Briefly explain your political platform.

Roth I am a Democrat because I believe that government should be representative and responsive to the needs of the citizens. I strongly believe that government should be For the People By the People.

Erickson I have always been a republican because we support the constitution fully and the phrase, we the people. The party aligns with my belief in smaller government, more local control, less regulations, and less taxes on businesses which leads to better jobs for citizens. We Republicans stand for personal accountability, hard work, defending 2 nd amendment rights, as well as supporting small businesses growth and capitalism not socialism.

What are the greatest challenges facing Idahoans?

Erickson COVID-19 is the biggest challenge right now, our entire lives have been disrupted from our entertainment, church attendance, sports, schools, community events, jobs, hospitals, family life, businesses, and many professional industries. Our quality of life has suffered greatly. People want to feel normal again and be able to go in public and enjoy a movie, or a date night out without worrying about getting sick or having more government mandates and oversight.

I also think with the population growth we have new challenges emerging like increased taxes, and burdens on our infrastructure and roads. We need to be able to keep up with growth and invest in our future without losing our ability to afford to live in our own community.

Roth The greatest challenge facing Idahoans is our education crisis. We are losing quality, experienced teachers to neighboring states because we are not paying competitive wages. Our students are not receiving the services guaranteed to them by the Idaho Constitution because we insist on maintaining the lowest per-pupil funding in the country while at the same time building a budget surplus. All the while our schools are forced to pass bonds and levies to fund basic operations to make up the shortfall. This is driving property taxes higher and higher every year. When our students suffer society suffers.

How is your party’s ideology better suited to dealing with these unique challenges than those of your competitor?

Roth In Idaho we have a supermajority trifecta meaning that one party controls both houses of the legislature as well as the Governor’s office. When one party has this much control it erodes the checks and balances put into place by the founders of our country and our state. Our state has become so focused on business and special interest groups that the needs of everyday citizens are being ignored. One way to see this illustrated is to simply look at the campaign finance reports. Nearly all of my opponent’s money raised for the general election has come from special interest groups and corporations who want to maintain Idaho as the least regulated state in the country so that they can operate to maximize profits which are then taken out of state. On the other side of the aisle we are supported primarily by individual citizens who are concerned about the future of their state and those who call this amazing state, home.

Erickson Bottom line our party is not about regulation and bigger government, we are about allowing people the freedoms they were granted as American citizens through the constitution. We know and understand that people are better at governing themselves and they do not need the government to control everything from their healthcare, or their wages, or their rights to carry a weapon. We trust everyday families and people to do what works best for themselves. We know that local solutions to local problems works better than federal oversight.

How will you best represent the views of your constituents – even those with differing political views?

Erickson I put my personal beliefs aside when I serve people. In Psychology, we are taught about biases and to be aware of our own. I surely have them, but I always try to have introspection and do what is best, taking into consideration what works for the people I serve. I mostly stick to the Republican platform because I believe in it. There are occasional issues that are not always clear decisions. I’m not afraid to stand alone when needed in order to do the right thing. There are a couple of issues from the last session I openly stood alone in and would have voted differently than my colleagues, but that happens often in politics and in our own families and certainly does not mean that I belong to the other party when I disagree on one or two issues. I am not somebody’s puppet; I think for myself and I am not beholden to special interest groups like others because they are career politicians. I am truly a public servant. I am happy to go out to lunch with someone who I disagree with and have the necessary conversations. I can listen to people with different perspectives, having great conversations about why I do not support their side. We can both come out feeling good about it, respecting one another. I have to do that often in my daily work. I think that is why I successfully serve so many people of different backgrounds throughout my career.

Roth I have spent much of my career working with groups of people who do not get along. When I worked in the university setting I was often the mediator between the business side of the school and the academic side. It is important to remember that we need the discussion and dialogue from all sides to find agreement. I think that we are elected to represent our constituents at the negotiating table, not to just legislate the wants of half the population.

How can you encourage compromise, debate and a bipartisan approach to introducing new legislation in Idaho?

Roth As I said above, I think that the key is to look at each piece of legislation as something to negotiate. I feel that when we do not allow ourselves to be open to compromise, we often times make decisions that later turn out to be wrong. I think that if we come together in the legislature to actually discuss and keep in mind that our goal is to create a better Idaho, then we can actually move forward and make meaningful change for the residents of Idaho.

Erickson There are several issues that are bipartisan and those are ones I work hard on every day. I love improving services that affect our youth and those living in poverty. I do not have to do that by growing government. Most people will agree that serving our youth better is a good thing. I am not regulated by emotions like I have seen many legislators do. I am a trained professional at listening and am able to hear other’s views. I try to find middle ground where we can all be happy, but I know that is not always something that can be accomplished. I use highly informed data decision-making and do my research and ask a lot of questions when I think about legislation and I want to hear from my constituents. I tend to have a view from multiple angles because of my experience working directly with people every day. One of my strategies is to ask the people that the legislation affects before acting too quickly. I am also a big fan of supporting smaller pilot implementation and gathering data to measure change rather than going all in on new ideas. Any time we create something new the goal needs to be to shrink the government’s role and reduce overall costs to taxpayers. My experience in State government and understanding what the state employees face every day will also go a long way in helping with budget development when there are disagreements.

What parts of Idaho government could benefit from additional state funding? What part of Idaho government could be improved with financial cutbacks?

Erickson We need to add funding to preventative services that help reduce costs in other areas that way we pay less in the long run. Treatment costs more than prevention. Hospitalization costs more than early intervention. Prisons cost more than supporting individuals needing help. Prevention works, I have seen it over and over. Although it is hard to measure in a short period of time it surely works. I love evidence-based programs that have a return on investment of $18-$50 versus those that have no evidence and frequently lose the State money or show no return. My expertise is in implementation science and knowing how to use data, systems, and programs intertwined to get outcomes. I would love to see more funding supporting schools and community efforts in mental health, suicide prevention, alcohol and drug prevention, and work for overall positive decision making for youth. If we shift funding that already exists we do not need additional spending. In fact, when we do well, we can shrink government. I feel we can do cutbacks in the incarceration of youth and adults and not have to send people out of state. I want to invest savings into tax cuts for seniors and the vulnerable and we can also increase the funding for teacher’s salaries, so we retain good teachers in Idaho. We further need to invest in programs that provide career and technical education so our Idahoans can take Idaho jobs and build stronger small businesses.

Roth The obvious place for more government spending is education and healthcare. These are two areas that truly impact the lives of Idahoans. We need to offer better options for parents including state-funded early childhood education and more career and technical training. We need to implement Medicaid Expansion as the voters of District 33 overwhelmingly approved. I think that we need to cut back on some of the money that we are setting aside for budget surplus and a rainy day. Idahoans paid that tax in anticipation of it being used to their benefit. It is time to honor that agreement.