Pocatello lawmaker launches state senate campaign, joined by two state house candidates
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POCATELLO — Current state representative James Ruchti officially kicked off his campaign for state senate at an event Saturday morning on the Idaho State University campus.
Ruchti, D-Pocatello, has served three terms in the Idaho State House of Representatives, first from 2006 to 2010 before returning to District 29 Seat B in 2020. After originally planning to run for re-election in the same position, Ruchti decided instead to run for Idaho State Senate.
“I feel like the senate position gives you a better ability to help get things done and represent your constituents,” he told EastIdahoNews.com.
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This decision came after the announcement that current, three-term senator Mark Nye, D-Pocatello, would not be running for his own re-election.
As Ruchti explained, while a seat on the state senate puts him in a more powerful position to drive change, all positions within the legislature are about connecting with the community and serving it at the capitol.
“As a state representative or a senator, the most important thing you can do is just listen to your constituents and try to be a reasonable and rational representative for them,” he said. “The main thing is, I’m in touch with the community.”
When it comes to being a legislator, Ruchti says “it’s really not about you,” explaining that the role of elected officials is to serve the interest of the voters, even if it does not align with your own.
As he has collected the thoughts and concerns of voters, Ruchti has targeted the concerns he believes most Pocatellans want addressed.
Property taxes, he said, have increased year after year as people move in from out-of-state. Availability of affordable, quality child care is another concern voters have voiced. The availability of affordable housing has also diminished, he added.
These are among the primary concerns he intends to address if elected.
He also spoke about a bill he is currently co-authoring with representative Joe Palmer, R-Treasure Valley. As he explained, the bill would limit property owners’ ability to collect application fees — something he said is being used as a profit center.
According to Ruchti, the bill would require property owners to have a rental property available for each application fee processed. Rather than allowing a rentee to process fees from 70 applicants for one apartment, he offered as an example, the rentee would only be able to process the fee for the next renter in line for the property.
Additionally, renters would be required to outline their rental criteria prior to processing the application fee.
This bill is a source of pride for Ruchti, not just for the reason that it would assist those in need of housing, but also because it represents his willingness to work across the aisle.
As he explained, Ruchti, a Democrat, has always put an emphasis on service over partisanship.
“The best elected officials I know, from the Republican party and the Democratic party, don’t pay a lot of attention to partisanship,” he said.
That is something Ruchti says he has in common with both Nate Roberts and Mary Shea, each of whom launched their own campaigns at the same event Saturday.
Shea will be running against current, first-term representative Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, for District 29 Seat A.
Like Ruchti, Shea currently serves the people of Pocatello and Bannock County as an attorney.
Roberts, who will attempt to fill the seat currently occupied by Ruchti running against Jake Stevens, represents the more working class of the community.
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“He’s a union leader, here in Pocatello,” Ruchti said of Roberts. “He’s going to bring an important and needed voice that you don’t often have in the legislature — the voice of working people, people who get up before it’s dark and often come home after it’s dark, and get dirt and grime under their fingernails.”
“I’m really proud to endorse him,” Ruchti concluded.
Both candidates, he added, are willing to work for substance rather than personal ideology — something Ruchti believes other candidates may not be able to say.
“We’re going to see what people want (this election season),” he said. “Do they want extreme partisanship, extreme rhetoric, fighting about ideology. Or do they want people to represent them who just want to get the work done and provide good government, and help working people solve the problems that are most important to them.”
Serving the Pocatello community is the end game for Ruchti, a fifth-generation Pocatellan.
After graduating from West Point and serving as a U.S. Army military intelligence officer from 1993 to 1998, then graduating with a law degree from the University of Idaho, Ruchti said he knew he needed to come back to his home and serve his own community.
“I just have deep roots in Pocatello,” he said. … “I’m very honored to be able to run for the senate seat and represent my community.”