Ehardt and Marquit go head-to-head in Legislative debate

IDAHO FALLS — Two long-time political rivals battled it out as Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and three-time Democratic challenger Miranda Marquit faced off in an 85-minute debate Thursday evening at the Snake River Event Center at the Shilo Inn.

“My opponent and I are absolutely diametrically opposed one to another,” Ehardt said.

The matchup for District 33 House Seat A promises to be Bonneville County’s most competitive legislative race in November’s election.

“In 2022, 36% of the eligible voters in District 33 decided this race,” Marquit said.

Two years ago, Marquit received 5,200 votes (40%) to Ehardt’s 7,816 (60%).

Marquit said she is running to “address the affordable housing crisis here in Idaho, … address our public education … protect Medicaid expansion and … continue to support our economy with good paying jobs through workforce development and the expansion of the Launch program.”

She would like the Legislature to prioritize “real issues and practical solutions rather than this weird culture war nonsense and endless grandstanding.”

“I’m tired of library bounty bills,” Marquit said. “I’m tired over the annual fight over Medicaid expansion, and I am tired of lip service to family values while refusing to take steps that support our communities and our families.”

Ehardt highlighted freedom, inflation, the border crisis and illegal immigration in her opening remarks.

“Inflation four years ago … was 1.9%, … and remember, inflation is that silent tax killer. … Now it’s at a conservative 17%,” Ehardt said. “Gas prices (were) $2.71, now $3.96. The average rent (was) just over $1,000. Now the average rent (is) $2,400. Looking at grocery prices, you’re looking at a 25% increase. Electricity (is) up 21%. Real hourly average earnings (are) down almost 4%. These are the things that affect us.”

She emphasized the need for secure borders.

“Because of what’s happened with our Biden-Harris administration, we are being inundated with illegal immigrants throughout this entire nation, and that’s created crime and chaos and confusion, and we are being hit with it here in Idaho too,” Ehardt said.

The two candidates clashed passionately over Proposition 1 (ranked-choice voting/open primaries), Proposition 2 (non-citizens voting in elections), property taxes, Title IX, Medicaid expansion, the library bill, water rights, education and more.

Each candidate answered 10 questions prepared independently by Daniel Barker, Chairman of the Bonneville County Democrats, and Michael Colson, Chairman of the Bonneville County Republicans.

Proposition 1 — Ranked-choice voting

On the Nov. 5 ballot, voters will be able to decide whether to “(1) replace voter selection of party nominees with a top-four primary; (2) require a ranked-choice voting system for general elections,” according to voteIdaho.gov.

Ehardt opposes the measure, while Marquit supports it.

“I was terribly disappointed to find out that somehow ranked-choice voting had made its way to Idaho after we saw the debacle that had happened in Alaska,” Ehardt said. “… Ranked-choice voting, to me, is a Marxist ploy. We are about one person, one vote.”

She cited efforts in Alaska to repeal their ranked-choice voting system.

However, Marquit said courts have ruled ranked-choice voting is one person one vote, and that the system increases voter turnout and participation.

“Ranked choice voting is simply an instant runoff,” Marquit said. “Why should taxpayers in this state pay for a closed primary that they cannot participate in? We want people over parties, and I am perfectly okay with that.”

Proposition 2 — Non-citizen voting initiative

Idahoans will also be deciding whether to amend the state constitution to prevent “non-citizens from voting in elections.”

“I think it’s one of those grandstanding things that’s a waste of time, because we don’t have voter fraud,” Marquit said.

She cited studies by the Brennan Center for Justice that voter fraud only occurs in “0.003% to 0.0025% of ballots cast.”

The center has verified that the Heritage Foundation’s Database of Voter Fraud contains a total of 41 confirmed cases of non-citizens registering to vote over the past several decades nationwide.

Ehardt encouraged voters to support the measure.

“We already have examples of voter fraud out there having to do with illegal aliens who have crossed the border,” Ehardt said. “Americans are the only ones who should be voting. … Join with us and and vote yes on prop two, because we don’t want illegals voting in our elections.”

Affordable housing

Marquit supports eliminating the cap on the homeowner’s exemption so it correlates with home values and inflation.

“In 2016, the state Legislature put a cap on the homeowner’s exemption,” she said. “So as home values go up, the exemption stays the same, and so that means you pay more in property taxes.”

Additionally, she recommends offering tax breaks to seniors, “capping excessive rental fees and increasing the state’s affordable housing fund” using money from budget surpluses.

“70% of the property tax burden in this state is on residential homeowners with 30% on commercial,” Marquit said. “ … Commercial is getting a free ride on the backs of residential homeowners.”

Ehardt emphasized the Legislature’s progress in reducing homeowners’ property tax burden.

“What we’ve been doing is making sure that you can keep and afford your housing because of property taxes,” she said. “… Over the last couple years, we have made enormous progress and enormous investment — including with that surplus money — into reducing property taxes, including that $1.5 billion that’s going to the facilities fund for schools.”

“As far as these special one-ups for people, that’s not fair because it’s on the backs of someone else,” she added. “… What we just did for all of you over the last couple years, you’ll find far more beneficial.”

Title IX

Ehardt has been a leader in fighting against the Biden-Harris administration’s revision of Title IX “prohibiting discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics,” which allows transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.

“Now it’s far beyond sports. It’s far beyond education,” Ehardt said. “It is essentially 1500 pages of punishment.”

Under the new rules, she said a mother taking a six-year-old daughter to the restroom at an elementary school could be charged with sexual harassment for questioning a 40-year-old transgender male who decided to use the same facility.

On Aug. 28, Gov. Brad Little Brad signed an executive order to “guarantee every female student in Idaho be provided equal opportunity in sports and school to the fullest extent,” as required by the original Title IX statute.

Marquit cited a UCLA Law School study that “less than 1% of adults identify as trans, 1.4% of children 13 to 17 identify as trans, and in all public schools, there are no more than 100 trans athletes.”

“It is weird that we’re walking around looking at people’s private parts and trying to figure out, you know, what their privates are,” Marquit said. “We’ve got rules at the high school level, at the NCAA level, we have rules to govern this stuff. So I’m not sure why we need the state Legislature getting involved. I’m not sure why we need the governor getting involved. I’m not sure why we need a government small enough to wander into my child’s locker room.”

Medicaid expansion and sustainability

Marquit strongly supports Medicaid expansion, which was passed by voters in 2020.

“We needed a valid initiative to make it happen,” she said. “And then every year since we’ve done this, they have tried to take it away from us by calling it guardrails. … If we’d expanded it sooner, we’d have more help in funding from the federal government. The only reason we expanded Medicaid is because we, the people, the citizens, begged our state Legislature to do it, and they would not.”

She said that 46% of Bonneville County residents qualify as Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE).

“We keep having these surpluses of anywhere between $500 million and $2 billion,” Marquit said. “What are we investing it in? We should be investing it in our people.”

Ehardt said that the state has made a conscious effort to remove individuals who no longer qualify for the program from its rolls, to help reign in costs and ensure that Medicaid can serve its intended recipients.

“Quite frankly, we’re having a hard time funding it,” Ehardt said. “It was originally meant for the handicapped, young kids and pregnant mothers, but we’re at the risk of these people not getting it, people like my niece, not being able to receive that because of all the other people who are applying to get on there, who are able bodied people.”

Catch the full debate

To watch the rest of the debate, you can visit the Bonneville Democrats Facebook page or Stand Up for Idaho’s streaming on Rumble.

Ehardt argued that overall, Idaho is strong and headed in the right direction.

“We’re the least regulated state. We’re the number one state for median household income growth,” she said. “We’re the number one state for credit worthiness. We’re the number three best run state. We’re the fifth best state, according to U.S. News and World Report. We’re the number one state year over year in growth. We’re the number one state for the economy. We’re the fourth best state to live in.”

“These are real attributes and reasons why we should want to keep Idaho strong,” Ehardt said. “Why would we want to change that direction? This is going great.”

The candidates agree voters have a clear decision to make for their legislative representative in District 33.

“There are very stark differences in this race,” Marquit said. “I am in favor of a move toward greater democracy through open primaries and maintaining early and absentee voting. … I am fully supportive of public education. Representative Ehardt has expressed support for the voucher boondoggle. … She believes that libraries are rife with porn, and wants to continue to regulate them and make them harder to use. … I support women’s health, and I support our ability to make our own health decisions.”

“I want you to join me as we start moving forward to make real positive change here in Idaho,” she concluded.