Incumbent Mark Harris hoping to keep his seat in District 35 against opponent Chris Riley

IDAHO FALLS — Mark Harris, R-Idaho Falls, is hoping to keep his seat as the District 35 senator against his opponent, Democrat Chris Riley.

The seat has a two-year term. District 35 encompasses a portion of Bonneville County, a portion of Bannock County, Teton County, Caribou County and Bear Lake County.

Harris was first elected in 2022. Find more about his campaign here.

Riley does not have a campaign website.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.

The general election is Nov. 5.

Candidate Questions & Responses

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

Harris: My wife and I, along with our four boys, live on a cattle ranch south of Soda Springs in Bear Lake County. My brothers and I are partners in the ranch along with a farm in Malta. We raise beef cattle and alfalfa. I had the opportunity to serve a two year mission for my church in Argentina. I attended Utah State University where I graduated with a B.A. in Political Science. I have served on various state and local boards. I currently have the honor to serve in the Idaho State Senate and am serving as the Majority Caucus Chair.

Riley: I was raised with strong values along with three brothers by a Baptist minister and an early education teacher. I received my B.A. from Elmira College and an M.A. from the University of Toledo, where I also taught for two years. In my younger professional life, I have been a chef, a restaurant manager, a warehouse manager, a bus driver, a bartender, and am presently enjoying a career in sales and marketing.

Why are you seeking political office? Briefly explain your political platform.

Harris: I am running for re-election to the Idaho State Senate. I love the State of Idaho and all the opportunities it provides. I am running to help keep Idaho the great place it is to have a family and raise kids. We live in a highly productive area of the state. We lead the nation in many agricultural products such as barley, potatoes, and other crops. We also live in an area that produces the world’s highest quality of phosphate and have the good fortune of being home to Idaho National Laboratory. I want to do all I can to protect these industries, the jobs they produce, and most importantly the families they support.

Riley: I am running because the revocation of women’s reproductive rights is the greatest assault on personal freedom in my lifetime. Additionally, no matter where you stand on national politics, I believe state government should work for its citizens, not for the whim of the privileged. Banning books doesn’t make anyone more free. Taking away children’s lunches because they didn’t have to work for it isn’t promoting small government; it’s just a performative act of cruelty. I wish to bring the focus of the legislature back to keeping Idahoans free, fed, and educated.

At present, 38 of our 44 counties are in danger of having their healthcare systems collapse imminently. This is in no way helped by educated people leaving Idaho in high numbers and medical professionals leaving due to our recent restrictive legislative assaults. To combat this, designing and funding programming at ISU that would educate Nurse Practitioners and Physician’s Assistants to work in rural networks would be the most impactful move we as a state could make. Unfortunately, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes at the same time the opposition have adopted “zero funding for higher education” as part of their platform.

What are the greatest challenges facing people and communities in your district? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Harris: Idaho is in great shape financially. We are responsible and have a balanced budget every year. As a result of our prosperity and good governance we are one of the fastest growing states in the country. However, with this growth comes challenges. One of our biggest issues is keeping up with the growth in our schools and our infrastructure, which includes roads, bridges, and broadband access. We have begun to take steps to deal with this growth during the past legislative session in increased investments in both education and transportation funding. However, more needs to be done.

Riley: The three greatest challenges facing many in District 35 and across the state in general are declining access to healthcare, diminished educational standards and opportunities, and unchecked growth. I believe when you get to the core of people’s values and goals for this state, they would agree that investing in education, infrastructure, and basic government competency at the state level is the best use of the legislature’s time. These three issues are largely non-partisan and we all should be working to address them.

The most impactful approach we can take on healthcare is funding rural health networks and the educational opportunities that would enable them. Utah has found great success with their healthcare education, and we could benefit tremendously from the lessons presented there. Next, we need to restore reproductive rights. Critical healthcare providers have left the state as a direct response to this ban. We will see maternal mortality rates rise when that data becomes available. 88% of these deaths are preventable and we are watching every avenue of prevention dwindle.

Per education, our teachers are laughably underpaid and educational standards have fallen. We need to be proactive about maintaining educational standards and providing economic opportunity through education.

To curb unchecked growth and the destruction of community character, the legislature needs to work with county and municipal governments to empower decision-makers to protect farmlands and create amenable zoning regulations. We must also be vigilant in maintaining and protecting public lands.

Have you seen any mistakes made by the Idaho Legislature in recent years? How would you work to correct these errors?

Harris: Yes, we do make mistakes and sometimes bills are not written correctly. They pass due to political pressure. The intent of the bill may be good, but then we find there are unintended consequences. When we find out about these issues, we do our best to fix them. These may be simple corrections within the bills themselves or trailer bills may need to be written.

Riley: I generally prefer to focus on future opportunities, but I would be remiss if I did not address my bitter disappointment in our legislature. People with good values and legitimate concerns have been told by various interest groups that the way to achieve a better and freer life is somehow to use the government to place restrictions on those who are different from them. As a result, freedom-loving, small-government-minded individuals have voted for one of the most restrictive legislatures in the country.

Freedom starts with bodily autonomy and our state’s restrictions of women’s reproductive health represent a huge infringement on personal liberty. People who want the government out of their lives should not be championing legislation that places the government in a room where an individual and a doctor are engaged in what may be the most trying conversation of the patient’s life.

Banning books does not make Idahoans more free. Librarians should not live in fear of prosecution and citizens should not have to present proof of age to check out a book from their local library.

Lastly, the rejection of federal funds for student lunches with the rationale that children should have to work for it is especially repugnant. This is not a promotion of small-government values. It is a performative act of cruelty perpetrated by legislators to get the attention of national right-wing media in a state where nearly 70,000 children face food insecurity. I have never seen a piece of legislation speak so loudly against our values as a state.

What parts of the state budget could use more funding? Are there places in the budget where cuts could be made?

Harris: Transportation is an area within our state that could use more funding. Due to the increased stress and traffic on our roads and bridges we are seeing many places with a lot of wear and tear. Many of our bridges are close to 60-70 years old and need to be replaced. Places in our budget where cuts could possibly be made is Medicaid. We have seen a great increase in the Medicaid budget within the last few years, more than what was anticipated. However, great care needs to be taken that we don’t inadvertently limit those that need this resource.

Riley: Idaho will fall behind the rest of the country if we are not constantly investing in pre-K, K-12, and higher education to prepare for the future.

Education, education, education. I grew up in a community where many voted Republican on the national stage, but Democratic on the local stage. Education was always deemed as an investment in the future of our children and the well-being of our state. Every levy passed; every program was funded, and all parties were better for it. Somehow, in the hyper-partisanship of the last few years, we have lost sight of that fact.

If Brad Little can blow 200K on a useless field trip of state assets to the border, I would venture to guess the State Police and other executive branch programs have more funds to spare. I am only half-kidding here. Cutting waste statewide and channeling those funds to places that have a real impact is an important part of my platform.

What is your position on Idaho’s Proposition 1 ballot initiative that would end closed-party primary elections and create ranked-choice voting?

Harris: I plan on voting No on Proposition 1. It is a solution in search of a problem and could be very costly to the state and to the counties.

Riley: I am for ranked-choice voting in the primary because it gives everyone a right to exercise their franchise. I have heard much in the way of flawed opposition to it – largely coming from the extreme groups who have wrested control of the party from pragmatic Republicans – but have yet to hear a convincing argument against the proposal.

What is your position on Gov. Brad Little using Idaho State Police resources to bolster security at the United States southern border? How does illegal immigration impact the constituents in your district?

Harris: I am in full support of Governor Little using ISP resources by having our state police at the border. It This action is valuable in respect of the things we are seeing and learning to bolster our security in our state. The trafficking of Fentynal is a major concern in our state and anything we learn and do to curb this scourge is valuable. Illegal immigration is a major concern. The federal government is not doing its job to address our border security issues while ensuring that the legal guest worker program is efficient and useful for those that need it.

Riley: I view Gov. Little’s actions as a shameless waste of resources and primarily an act of political theater. I don’t want to see my taxes funding a racist sleepaway camp for State Police.

The second part of your question needs to be answered by a reminder to focus on facts and not the vile brand of rhetoric that was once reserved for Reich-builders or shared in private but now floats around casually.

Idahoans across parties do not have racist intentions and there is a real danger in giving credence to sensational and often baseless claims made by extremists with agendas. It is important to remember that as a group, illegal immigrants are statistically more law-abiding than citizens.

They pay taxes and into social security without being able to benefit from either system. The largest impact I can see is how the influx of cheap labor impacts wages. Still, this is only one part of the wage problem.

A battle over the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer recharge led to a temporary water curtailment for thousands of acres of farmland in 2024. How should the legislature respond to this issue?

Harris: The best solution to this problem is for the affected parties to get together and find common ground and a way that will fix the dispute. They are currently working on this issue. The role of the legislature is to assist where we can and if we need to codify some changes to prevent future curtailments, we can. Care should be taken to protect the priority doctrine.

Riley: This is going to be a lengthy process of study, debate, and change. We are at a good place to start these discussions and already have the mistakes made in the management of other water systems of the west to provide some insights. If we act now, we have the ability to protect our agricultural water rights and conserve one of our most valuable resources.