Cheatum retains State House Seat 28A with Republican Primary victory
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POCATELLO — With 40% of the vote, incumbent Richard “Rick” Cheatum has earned the Republican nomination and is the presumptive winner for Seat 28A in the Idaho State House of Representatives
Cheatum secured his second term in the seat with his primary election victory Tuesday. He bested challengers James Lamborn — who earned 33% of the votes — and Mike Saville.
Along with other Bannock County Republicans, Cheatum remained at a watch party until well after midnight when final decisions were announced. He spoke with EastIdahoNews.com Wednesday morning, saying he is thankful for those voters who ignored the attack campaigns from his challengers and entrusted him with a second term in the State House.
“I appreciate the vote of all the people who turned out last night,” he said. “I was surprised by the relatively low overall turnout, but I really appreciate those who could see through all the mud-slinging and all of the disreputable attacks that occurred during the campaign.”
Cheatum, who won two elections for Pocatello City Council before running for the State House, said it was a “surprise” and “shock” to see attack campaigns from his challengers.
“I have never seen a campaign run quite like that — never experienced that, myself,” he said. … “It was all I could do, not to retaliate in kind — I tried to stick to the facts of the campaign.”
Idaho’s 28th legislative district encompasses Power and Franklin counties, along with a portion of Bannock County.
Cheatum initially claimed House Seat 28A in 2022, defeating Dawn Morrell in the Republican primary before running unopposed in the general election the same year.
The same is true this year, with no Democrat registered to run for the seat.
Cheatum is a member of the Commerce & Human Resources, Local Government and Revenue & Taxation committees.
With no registered opponent in the general election, he is focused on supporting the candidates he believes to be the best options for fellow Idahoans — he was happy to provide endorsements for incumbent District-mates Jim Guthrie and Dan Garner in the Nov. 5 general.