STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

About 200 people packed the Limelight Hotel in Ketchum Sunday evening for the Blaine County Democrats' annual Stennett Social.

They nibbled on meatballs, tuna ahi canapés and charcuterie, then cheered loudly as the candidates in the May 19 primary made their cases.

The Idaho Legislature’s Minority Leader Ilana Rubel opened the program.

Stephen Graham is the incumbent Blaine County Clerk.

Idaho's $2 billion surplus is gone, she told the crowd, burned through a series of tax cuts calibrated to benefit millionaires while leaving the state $550 million short of a balanced budget before lawmakers added another $300 million cut on top.

The result: $400 million slashed from deteriorating roads and bridges, a $100 million shortfall in special education, teacher salaries effectively cut when a $2,000 health insurance increase arrived with no pay raise attached, layoffs at Idaho State University, the closure of Boise State University's crown jewel College of Innovation and Design and cuts to Meals on Wheels and home disability care.

“And to what end? So that they could send out $5,000 private school tuition checks to the wealthy. It's appalling,” she said.

A legislative resolution calling for Idahoans to pray for rain, however, did make it through, she noted.

Dawn Cieslik is a Blaine County planner running for County Clerk.

“Their energy appears to be just completely focused on terrorizing trans people, women, and OBGYNs.”

People may be starting to wake up, however, she said.

“We have a lot of people who have a deep cultural affiliation with the Republican Party. And they don't necessarily read the news, and they don't even necessarily know what the party platforms are. They just reflexively vote Republican, and it takes a serious shock to the system to snap them out of that…And I think this legislature and this governor have finally delivered that shock.”

Ketchum resident Ellie Gilbreath, who is running for U.S. House District 2, told the crowd that federal policy is costing Idaho families at the gas pump, in the grocery store and in the examination room. Idaho is on the verge of losing eight hospitals, she said.

Rory Elle and Jonathan Gil Salinas were given Betty Murphy scholarship for their community engagement. Elle worked on Sen. Ron Taylor’s campaign and Salinas regularly attends school board meetings, in addition to volunteering with The Hunger Coalition.

More than 35 percent of OBGYNs and attending physicians have already left, taking spouses and colleagues with them. Half the state's counties have no labor and delivery services.

Gilbreath said that a neighbor with one of the fastest-growing companies in Idaho nearly lost her business and her home because of tariffs. Six Republican congressmen crossed the aisle to vote against the tariffs for their constituents, she said. Idaho's representatives were not among them.

“Imagine that, voting for constituents instead of the party.”

Sen. Ron Taylor, up for reelection in Legislative District 26, kept his remarks brief and personal, thanking his wife and the volunteers who make campaigns possible.

The event honors the late Sen. Clint Stennett and his widow Michelle, who stepped into his seat at the Idaho Senate following his death.

Anita Janis, a Jerome educator running for the District 26A House seat, arrived with a copy of the North Side Journal in hand and a pointed observation about her opponent's claims of supporting world-class education in a state that has regularly competed for last place with Utah in per-pupil spending.

“Last place, not first place,” she said.

Bellevue educator Kevin Marsh, seeking the District 26B House seat, spoke of 30 years researching and teaching in Idaho and of an obligation to protect what generations have built.

“What we have comes from generations of investment,” he said, noting that the state is on the verge of losing all that has been built. “We should vote for people, not parties.”

Blaine County Commissioner Lindsay Mollineaux, up for reelection, said every day she’s rereminded why it’s so important to have good people who are willing to do hard work in elected positions.

She recounted a recent meeting concerning water that she attended in Jerome. The conversation should have been about water infrastructure and canals but the Republican legislators began talking about what they are going to slash in the next legislative session.

“They're calling the federal government a drug dealer. They're talking about how there's no more money for decades and we're all going to have to be used to eating rice and beans. And everyone in this room is just horrified, honestly.”

Mollineaux said she walked away reinvigorated and committed to serving.

“Because you know what? We deserve good leaders.”

Two candidates running against each other in the May 19 primary exhibited moments of unusual grace.

Incumbent Blaine County Clerk Stephen Graham and challenger Dawn Cieslik each pledged publicly to contribute the maximum allowable amount to whoever wins their race, because, they said, the November contest matters more than the primary.

Graham, who is in his second term, framed his candidacy around independence—from private interests, from partisan operatives, from anyone who treats the clerk's office as their own.

“The threat to our democracy is not just in Washington. And it's not just in Boise,” he said. “The closest threat to our democracy is the private and political special interests knocking at the door of your county clerk's office. Right now. They don't grab headlines. They don't tweet. They're local private for-profit interests. They're local insiders who consider themselves the real power behind the scenes. They're partisan operatives who believe the voters belong to the party…And the clerk’s office is democracy’s first line of defense.”

Cieslik, a Navy veteran with 20 years in county government and now working as a planner for Blaine County, built her case around communication, collaboration, and transparency as the foundations of public trust.

“The county clerk’s office is the heart of our local government. When it runs efficiently other parts of government run efficiently,” said the Wood River Valley native.

Coroner candidate Stephen Gaylord, who served in the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2006 in counter-intelligence, gave the room its most unexpected civics lesson, explaining that the office dates to 1149 when King Richard the Lionheart needed a check on the corrupt sheriff of Nottingham. Even today, the coroner remains the only official who can arrest a sitting elected sheriff, Gaylord said.

Gaylord said the coroner’s job is about more than attending to deaths—it includes preventing deaths, if possible, re crisis intervention, promoting safe sleeping environments for infants and more.

“If I could go four years as your elected coroner and avoid a single teenage suicide, that would be an absolute gift.”

Gaylord’s challenger Eric Demment was not in attendance. He is a paramedic who has worked 25 years for St. Luke’s Wood River, Sun Valley Ski Patrol and others. He has said he would bring a calm, compassionate touch and real-world experience to the job.

County Assessor Jim Williams, running unopposed, said that as the father of three daughters he was grateful for the strong women on the ballot who, he said, are taking a stand to make our life better.

“I’m honored to be on the same ballot as them,” he said.