A politician like Brad Little can be slippery because he can seem like a good-natured son of Idaho wealth. But it helps to pay attention to the people who he takes the greatest pains to please:

These people outlawed abortion in Idaho.

These people want to imprison doctors who give basic reproductive care.

These people want to outlaw women from traveling out of state for healthcare.

These people want to outlaw contraception.

These people don’t want parents to protect children from gun crime.

These people won’t protect children from cults that deny them life-saving medical care.

These people want to tell us what books we should read.

These people call us “pedophiles” if we oppose their anti-freedom attack on libraries.
These people fight to keep the minimum wage low.

These people fight against workers’ rights to organize.

These people don’t want sick people to have medical marijuana.

These people take millions from oil lobbyists and will not support alternative energy.

These people fight against laws to protect Idaho’s pure public waters.

These people complain about forest fires but won’t budget to fight them.

These people want to sell public lands.

These people say climate change is a liberal hoax.

These people call the rioters who desecrated our Capitol on January 6 “heroes.”

These people try to fix their friends’ “problems” by throwing money at them.

These people fix schools by starving them to death.

These people hate that facts refute their worldview.

These people want to censor public colleges and universities.

These people call human rights for LGBTQ people “special” rights.

These people call human rights for people of color “special” rights.

These people are confused.

These people are mean.

These are the people who Gov. Brad Little was talking to this week when he signed an executive order to bully transgender girls and women out of sports. He is them.

The post Brad Little’s People Fight the Bad Fight appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

The Legislature hasn’t changed so the same meanness is back. It’s actually worse. Powerful lawmakers have expanded their attack on powerless kids by working to make life easier for Idaho’s most reviled bullies–those who simply attack kids because they can.

This year’s attack on transgender kids comes by trying to change the words in Idaho code regarding “sex” and “gender” status. These anti-kid politicians use this perverse platform to stoke a base that is fueled with disinformation and inflamed with fear.  With the failure of their attacks on our kids in the courts, which have routinely upheld trans kids’ rights of due process, equal protection, and community status, now our GOP colleagues are wasting more time and energy trying to define identity.  I have an idea, how about they just leave it be and let our kids live without bullying and constant attacks by our government.

As a parent, and a friend of transgender kids, I won’t just stand by and watch this bullying. Real lives are at stake. Real consequences.

My daughter came out at age 11.  I found out through her counselor, who was required by law to disclose to me that my daughter was self-harming and suicidal.  She was suicidal because the person she saw in the mirror, the person she felt like inside, was not the identity that society had placed upon her.

Every time one of these disgraceful bills gets a hearing, the souls of the most vulnerable group of people in Idaho, our transgender youth, take a beating.

I know a mother who will never again hug her child again because he didn’t feel comfortable in his own skin, and he took his own life. 

 Shouldn’t our laws try to save kids’ lives? At least, do no harm? 

Instead of showing compassion, this same GOP Legislature is entertaining proposals that make it harder to prosecute domestic terrorists, allowing more guns in schools, and allowing lawsuits against librarians. I believe it’s no coincidence that hate groups such as these frequently attack LGBTQia community members.

As Idaho Governor, I won’t let the Legislature bully kids. I will stand up to hate groups.  And I will make sure that one message is received loud and clear, the government must stay out of our doctor’s offices, our bathrooms, our libraries, and our bedrooms. For the party of alleged “small government”, Idaho’s present GOP, the Governor included, sure wants to regulate and govern everything we do. That’s why a vote for me will be a vote for your fundamental freedoms.

The post Idaho Has a Problem With Bullies in Power appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

This isn’t fearmongering. It’s happening now, in real-time. Just this month, an Ohio woman had her fate in the hands of a grand jury. The 34-year-old was charged with a felony after she miscarried a 22-week-old, unviable fetus in her home.

This happens, a miscarriage. It happens often. But we’ve lived in a society that, generally, has had the decency to stay out of it. We’ve agreed that this was a woman’s private matter. No decent person would consider adding pain to what may already be a traumatic situation.

Not now. Not in Idaho. Not anymore.

Idaho Republican Chair Dorothy Moon, and like-minded tyrants, are waging a perverse war on American democracy. Among the early casualties is basic decency. Make no mistake, these people are winning battle after battle in Idaho. And their success has to do with their opposition’s weakness. That opposition should be Idaho Gov. Brad Little. Unfortunately,  Moon and her unelected and unlikeable minions scare the Governor out of his boots.

For years, I have traveled Idaho and met folks in dozens of towns and cities. When they tell me what they want from their leaders, almost everyone demands a government that balances staying out of our private lives with providing vital services like roads, bridges, schools, and internet connectivity.
No one asks for politicians to attack women and families. 

No one asks for their Government to meddle in medical decisions. 

No one asks for less freedom and more politics. 

No one asks for innovative ways to make laws crueler. 

No one asks for Dorothy Moon to be a shadow governor.

Clearly, there’s a weird, mean group of anti-life people who Moon and her compatriots conspire with. Ever since they captured the Idaho GOP Party, Gov. Little barely fusses when they attack liberty after liberty.

So here we are. We have a Legislature poised to make murderers of women who dare declare sovereignty over their own bodies. We have unlikeable, unkind, and unpopular politicians who have made Idaho a dangerous place for women. If they win, Idaho will be more dangerous tomorrow.

Today, Moon and her allies are finding success in their crusade against women.

I intend to change that when I am elected Governor. A vote for me is a vote against tyranny. A vote for me is a vote for the freedom that we all want and we all deserve.

The post We Must Drop Politicians Who Make Idaho Dangerous for Women appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

–Abraham Lincoln response to 1857 US Supreme Court’s Dred Scott Decision

Politicians who steal our freedom try to do it softly. They cushion their cruelty with imprecise language about “the process” and “the will of the Legislature.” 

“I am pro-life,” my opponent assures us.

Yet, he fights for laws that kill our mothers, our sisters, our daughters.

Is this inflammatory rhetoric? I should hope so.

What freedom-loving person isn’t fuming when Idaho politicians, urged on by House Speaker Scott Bedke, fight to immediately institute a law that threatens doctors and endangers women? There’s no gray area here. The law is clear. Idaho forbids doctors from performing emergency abortions that save the lives of women.

Mr. Bedke and his powerful accomplices camouflage wanton cruelty with genteel bewilderment, phony empathy, mock outrage. 

Now is the time to be inflamed. The independence that flickers in our hearts must become a bonfire for us to prevail. In a democracy, that means voting. Our votes can burn down even the most stubborn injustices.

For those who misunderstand the metaphor, this is a call to defeat the violence of oppression with the far greater power of peaceful, purposeful voting. 

Our votes are stronger than any mob that would trample our sacred public spaces. Our votes create a virtuous circle where freedom and democracy grow stronger together.

To paraphrase the Great Emancipator: when we let freedom be taken from others, we forfeit our own.

Light your flame! Vote, Nov. 8.

The post Light Your Flame appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

That’s what SJR 102 would lead to. It amends the Constitution to allow the Legislature to call itself back into session. I am voting against it on Nov. 8.

In fact, bad ideas like SJR 102 are why I am running for Lt. Governor. I have the judgment and courage to oppose stuff like this. Of course, my opponent Scott Bedke supports it. (Find his “Aye” vote recorded here)

Now, I have to link to his vote or else he will just gaslight about it. That’s what he did on another vital issue on KTVB’s Viewpoint. Scott Petcash asked him to respond to a tweet from me that pointed out that Mr. Bedke favors imprisoning women who have abortions.

“That’s absurd!” he sputtered, his face getting redder. (Check it out at the 15 minute mark). 

It’s naked dishonesty caught on tape. Idaho law declares that a woman who has an abotion is guilty of a felony, and shall be fined and/or imprisoned for NOT LESS than one year. (Check out Idaho Code 18-606) Mr. Bedke is fighting for that law right now in court–he CHOSE to do that. He even objects to a judge’s partial stay of the law to let doctors save women’s lives who need emergency abortions.

Let’s be very clear. Mr. Bedke doesn’t just support jailing women. He supports letting them suffer and die rather than giving them live-saving care. 

For the record, I oppose jailing women who seek abortiion services. I oppose efforts to have Government mandate our reproductive health care. I oppose Government interfering in birth control decisions. I oppose ceding our freedoms to the heavy hand of Government. (You can watch my own KTVB Viewpoint interview here)

At the moment, we have a growing group of radical, anti-freedom legislators in our Legislature who have absolutely thrived under Mr. Bedke’s failed leadership. If SJR 102 passes, they’ll go pro. It will be full-time Idaho Freedom Foundation and their adoring crowds of militia cosplayers.  Imagine no break from lawmakers who want to abolish science from classrooms, who want to jail librarians, who want to drive professors out of classrooms, who want to give public tax dollars to their churches, who want to control women even if it kills them. 

Let’s give ourselves a break from bad ideas: vote no on SJR 102.

And please vote yes for me on Nov. 8.

The post Vote NO on a Full-time Legislature appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

Tomorrow, our leaders will honor our right to make reproductive healthcare decisions. 

Tomorrow, leaders won’t create outrage over every little thing to raise a campaign dollar.

Tomorrow, our kids will feel safe in the park and in their schools.

Tomorrow, Idaho will reduce our role in changing the world’s climate.

Tomorrow, businesses will love Idaho because we are welcoming and kind.

Tomorrow, freedom won’t just be words on a flag flown in the back of a pickup truck.

Tomorrow, our leaders will understand that serving the people is a sacred trust.

Tomorrow, our leaders will debate the best way to accomplish our dreams.

Tomorrow, the light of liberty will dispel the darkness we may see today.

What tomorrow looks like is decided by who shows up to the ballot box today.

Your vote matters Nov. 8.

The post Tomorrow Needs You Today appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

Case in point: Speaker Bedke just sent an email to his supporters grumbling about not liking the Boise mayor – and freedom. He’s no fan of freedom. 

How did that darn Boise mayor offend Mr. Bedke? She liked the idea of “free contraception, abortion, and reproductive health care.”

Oh, sure, I understand. Maybe he’s flogging that tired GOP talking point about “free stuff.” It can’t hurt to ask:

Hey, Mr. Speaker Bedke, do you support contraception, abortion, and reproductive healthcare if we have to pay for it? 

I think we know the answer to that. 

But that other point is valid: Speaker Bedke really does hate “free” stuff … free speech, free thought, free expression and, most of all, free people.

Let’s stand together and say no to anti-freedom extremists like Speaker Bedke. 

Let’s be free.

The post It’s a Bedke Promise: Opposing All Things “Free” appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

Today is a somber day. The U.S. Supreme Court rolled back the clock 50 years. Fifty years. Women no longer have the protection of that fundamental right affirmed in 1973 with the decision in Roe. v. Wade: the right to bodily autonomy; the freedom to make intimate and personal choices; the freedom I have known for my entire lifetime. 

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to revoke a woman’s right to make medical choices, in this case to choose to have an abortion, erodes the freedom of every American. This moment shakes up an Idaho political landscape that is dominated by Republican politicians who sacrifice personal freedom for political power.

First, I want to say that the Idaho Democratic Party stands with the women and pregnant people in this state who are scared, confused, and don’t know what to do. Let me be clear – today, you still have the legal right to abortion services. If you need reproductive health care, it is still a protected right in Idaho. Please seek care if you need it, you will not be deprived of care. For now.

In thirty short days, that won’t be the case.  

We have to protect and exercise the choices we still have. Today, Republican politicians have taken away our choice to make personal medical decisions—in this case the right to abortion services. But women still have the powerful choice of who to vote for.

A strong majority of Americans, 62 percent, oppose the monumental decision to roll back a right women have relied on for 50 years. This move from a Supreme Court stacked with extreme Republican appointees is a view of freedom that Americans find offensive.

The only freedom Republican politicians will fight for is the freedom to agree with them.  When you disagree, they take away that freedom and give it to the government. 

In our state, the GOP supermajority has already passed two horrific anti-abortion laws.  Senate bill 1365 was passed in 2020, signed by Governor Little, criminalizing abortion 30 days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

Your clock starts today.  Women only have 30 days from today to govern their own bodies. We have 30 days of bodily autonomy.

The insult does not stop there.  

This year the extremist supermajority also passed Senate Bill 1309, criminalizing abortion to any medical provider who provides abortion care. They put a bounty on their heads starting at $20,000. The Texas-style abortion bill allows family members of rapists to sue if the victim sought and received abortion care. 

Idaho, it is time to wake up! I am officially sounding the alarm!

It is painful and frightening to know that my daughter, whose profound anger and frustration was captured here by reporters at Friday’s rally, has less freedom than I did growing up. But guess what people, Idaho is about to learn how influential women can be when you target their freedom! In 1990, the Legislature passed the most restrictive abortion law in the entire country. With the nation watching, Gov. Cecil Andrus vetoed the legislation. Members of his own party, as well as those across the aisle, were certain that he sealed a defeat for his fourth run as Governor. That did not happen. In fact, Gov. Andrus won re-election by a wider margin than before and Democrats won big in the Legislature.  

In 1990 Idaho women, regardless of political affiliation, voted for candidates who respected them and who pledged to preserve and protect their reproductive freedoms.  The same will happen this year in Idaho and across the country. 

If we don’t stand up to this attack on our personal freedom, what will be next?

The right to access birth control? Idaho Rep. Brent Crane has already said it out loud – Plan B and IUDs are on the table. 

What about our LGBTQ+ community? Will they lose the right to marry who they love?

Is inter-racial marriage going to be challenged?

The time is now for every single Idahoan to stand up and say enough is enough! Our freedoms are not at your disposal. I have a message to the Idaho GOP Supermajority – and I want it to be perfectly understood – in no uncertain terms:

WE WON’T GO BACK!

The post My Statement on SCOTUS Overturning Roe v. Wade appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

We see our rights diminish at a time when extremists in the Republican-dominated Idaho government are attacking librarians, school teachers, and universities. This loss of rights comes as Idaho’s elected leaders flirt with militia members and white nationalists.This loss of rights comes as Republican extremist candidates refuse interviews with television and newspapers—choosing instead to blare at their base over far-right propaganda platforms and direct mail.

In this environment, for the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to take away a right that Americans have had for 50 years. The right that is being taken away, from individuals, is abortion. Now, a state government, such as Idaho’s, will decide for us.

This is a dangerous assault on our liberty. 

Let me be unambiguous: the government should not dictate a person’s medical, family planning, and reproductive health decisions. No state should get that power. 

Here in Idaho, extremists have made no secret of their goals and they’ve been wildly successful during the long reign of House Speaker Scott Bedke (lieutenant governor candidate).

These extremists scapegoat our state’s most powerless to stoke public outrage. They invent scandals as a pretext to attack teachers. They slander good people to justify purges of libraries. They tell absurd lies about election fraud to pass laws making it harder for wage earners to vote.

We must stand up now. The other option is unthinkable. If we start being okay with losing rights today, we can be certain that the scam artists, the haters, the political opportunists, and the anarchists won’t stop tomorrow.

Here in Idaho, the extremist-Republican politicians who write the laws want the government to censor what we read, to punish us for who we love, to give rapists’ families more rights than rape victims, and to fine librarians for curating books!

Now is the critical moment. We can no longer overlook the faults of craven politicians because they cynically appeal to a narrow band of inflammatory issues. We need to be bigger than that. We must choose leaders who don’t just say the right things—they must do the right things.

Right now, the right thing is to tell the truth. 

The right thing is to stand up to the bullies.

The right thing is to fight for our freedom. 

I am the only candidate in this race who will do that.

The post To Stop Losing Freedoms, Raise Your Voice, Cast Your Vote appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

In Twin Falls, I spoke with students. Many were concerned about the direction Idaho is taking. I spoke with a nursing student who is deeply concerned about the nursing shortage in Idaho. She wants to see legislators help build her future profession by investing in education. Instead, she sees extreme politicians inventing reasons to attack higher education. She doesn’t see Republican leaders standing up to the Idaho Freedom Foundation and other groups that have vowed to defund education.

Students see what’s happening and they don’t like it.

In Coeur d’Alene, the local community college is also the talk of the town. Community members worry that extremists who took over the publicly elected board are threatening this wonderful college’s survival. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (the accrediting body) reported that, due to a politically divisive board election and the behavior of a top board member, “… there is reason to perceive that academic freedom is vulnerable to inappropriate pressure.”

And there it is, the theme that pops up wherever I go in Idaho: our freedom is vulnerable to inappropriate pressure.

In an interview with the Coeur d’Alene Press, I addressed this sharp turn away from personal freedom among today’s elected Republican politicians:

“That’s just the exact opposite of the GOP I was born and raised in,” said the Idaho native. “It was ‘the government stays out of your business.’ It just really hit me hard this last couple of years that it’s been just the opposite, where now they’re trying to jump in and say, ‘We want to control everything because it’s for your own good.’ This isn’t the Grand Old Party that I know.”

“Terri Pickens Manweiler: Ready to Fight,” April 22, 2022

The good news is that I meet Republicans, Democrats, and non-affiliated folks everywhere I go who are no longer willing to risk our freedom and our future to unqualified and unfit political extremists.

This November, when I am elected as Idaho’s Lieutenant Governor, we will make honesty, courage, and competence basic qualifications of leadership again.

The post Our Freedom is Vulnerable appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.