Newly elected Sugar City councilman may be the youngest to serve in its history
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SUGAR CITY — One of the youngest people running for public office in eastern Idaho was successful Tuesday.
Carter Stanford, 20, beat his opponent, Mark Oliphant, with 56% (86 total votes) of the vote to become Sugar City’s newest city council member. Stanford will serve a two-year term once he takes office in January.
Stanford is thrilled with the opportunity to serve his community. Though he’s a little nervous at the thought of serving with a council more than twice his age, he tells EastIdahoNews.com he doesn’t want that to cast doubts on his ability to serve constituents.
“The people voted me in, so obviously they want a younger voice in there. I am excited. I know it’s going to be a lot of learning, and I’m ready to figure out how it all works and be able to provide that young voice for Sugar City,” Stanford says.
This is not the first time a young person has been elected to a city council in Idaho. Nineteen-year-old Ismael Fernandez was elected to serve on Wilder’s City Council in 2015. He was killed in a car crash two years later, according to the Idaho Statesman.
In 2012, 21-year-old Maria Rangel was elected to serve on the city council in American Falls.
Sugar City Clerk Wendy McLaughlin isn’t entirely certain whether Stanford is the youngest to serve in their community, but says the chances of that being the case are pretty likely.
Stanford is a junior at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg majoring in marketing and sales. He’s hoping to have a career as a brand manager one day, but politics is something he’s been interested in for a long time.
He recalls doing exceptionally well in his high school government class. He says his academic achievements often got overlooked because he didn’t fit the mold of a typical student.
“I played sports,” Stanford explains. “(But) when we’d do mock trials (in class), I always outshined my classmates.”
Additionally, several of Stanford’s family members have been civically involved in one way or another. His brother volunteered as a page in the Idaho Legislature years ago and his dad is a deputy with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
Though there wasn’t a particular thing that sparked his interest in politics, Stanford says he’s attended Sugar City Council meetings frequently and wanted to get involved.
As a newly elected councilman, Stanford wants to be a voice for the younger demographic. He hopes his involvement will inspire others his age to get involved in community affairs.
“In Sugar City, a lot of the kids my age zone out because they don’t feel included in the city. They’re college students, so they’re going to BYU-I in Rexburg and don’t feel like they’re part of the city,” he says.
Affordable housing is an issue he says weighs heavily on the minds of young voters.
“That’s a big issue everywhere and there’s no easy fix to it. But I think there’s some things we can do to work with contractors and developers better to make sure it’s affordable,” Stanford says.
As he prepares to take office, one of his biggest priorities is revitalizing city services, like fall leaf cleanup.
An ongoing conversation about whether the city will provide tennis and pickleball courts for the school district is a hot topic that he wants to be involved in as well.
“I think that’s a really big topic — making sure there’s things kids can do inside of Sugar City,” says Stanford.
And though being a full-time student and a part-time city councilman is a bit of a balancing act, Stanford says he’s not worried about his ability to serve the community.
“I’m going to put Sugar over my schooling. Whatever needs to get done is going to get done,” he says.
WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH STANFORD IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.