State Senator
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| John W. Goedde (R) | 8,263 | 70.78% |
| Jeremy P. Boggess (I) | 2,821 | 24.16% |
| Ray J. Writz (C) | 590 | 5.05% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
The Candidates
Ray J. Writz
- Party:
- Constitution
- Age:
- 73
- City:
- Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
- Occupation:
- Janitorial business owner
Education: Graduated from Grant High School in Fox Lake, Illinois, in 1969. Studied accounting at the now-defunct Kinman Business University in Spokane in 1982-83.
Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Idaho state Senate in 2010, state House of Representatives in 2012, again for state Senate in 2014 and for U.S. Senate in 2016.
Work Experience: Partially retired after a career as a carpenter, laborer and sanitation engineer. Most recently, ran a janitorial business in Coeur d'Alene.
Family: Married. Has two adult children and five grandchildren.
Campaign Fundraising: $7,410 as of Oct. 1. Writz contributed nearly all of those funds himself, with one donation from independent political activist Darcy Richardson.
Complete Coverage
Boater outreach lacks key information
BOISE – Idaho lawmakers called their state parks director on the carpet Monday over letters that were sent to 32,000 boaters about the possible closure of the Third Street boat launch in Coeur d’Alene. State Parks Director Nancy Merrill told the Senate Resources Committee she was just doing her job as required by state law: standing up for boater access on state waters.
Budget crunch dominates talk among Idaho lawmakers
BOISE – There’s a desperate edge to the talk in Boise as Idaho’s legislative session approaches. “It’s not going to be a fun place to be in the Capitol this year,” said new Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg. “We’re probably facing the worst year coming up that I’ve ever seen.”
GOP gains mean more of the same at Idaho Statehouse
BOISE – While much of the nation endorsed a sharp change in political direction Tuesday, Idaho went its own way – the same way it’s headed for the past four years, only more so. “Here in Idaho, it’s a different story – it’s about staying the course,” said Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko. “It’s about fiscal responsibility, about understanding that government needs to be small.”
Idaho Senate, District 4 race
Coeur d’Alene Sen. John Goedde is the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and in his bid this year for a fourth term in the Senate, the Republican has drawn no Democratic challenger, but does face an independent and a Constitution Party candidate on the November ballot.
Budget cuts eliminate survey used for drug prevention programs
BOISE – Idaho has made much of a startling statistic – that teen meth use in the state dropped 52 percent from 2007 to 2009. It’s the largest percentage drop of any state and coincided with the Idaho Meth Project ramping up its graphic anti-meth TV ads and billboards. But that 52 percent figure was boosted by a small increase from 2005 to 2007; 11 states actually saw greater declines from 2005 to 2009, according to the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Eye on Boise: U.S. Senate delegation loses ground in digital IQ
BOISE – There was a time when then-Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was dubbed the “cybersenator” because he was the first U.S. senator to send out podcasts. Now, it seems, our digital edge in the U.S. Senate has slipped. George Washington University and New York University’s Stern School of Business have completed a joint study that evaluated and ranked every senator for what it dubbed their “digital IQ,” or “online competence” based on presence on websites, social media following and sentiment, digital marketing aptitude and search engine optimization skills. Idaho’s results? Sen. Mike Crapo ranked 64th among the 100 senators, and Sen. Jim Risch ranked 93rd.