To paraphrase: A New York felon who leads a shady gang of billionaires is gutting our national security, relief programs for hungry kids, and our expert federal workforce so they can pay themselves more money (“tax breaks” is the term of art). And, that New York felon loves seeing the same thing happening to Idaho!

To be clear, President Trump only cares about Idaho schools because he wants all states to follow his lead on gutting public education. His goal is to end public education altogether. Gut the department of education nationally – check! Now onto the states –  check! Thanks, Brad Little.

Don’t let them fool you–it’s not alarmist to call this out. In fact, I’ve been warning for years that Brad Little and his puppeteers have been working on this. 

It’s simple math. The GOP supermajority wants to give money to their wealthy cronies, who are affiliated with private, usually religious schools. (The bonus is that they buy the loyalty of parents this way too). They shift that money from public schools. It’s $50 million this time. Does anyone really think that’s a cap?

If you are interested, let me go a little more deeply into how the school voucher program works to hurt Idaho kids:

School vouchers drain funding from public schools, which rely heavily on local and state taxes. When students head for private options, the money follows them. This cuts money available to run, staff, and maintain the local public schools. These schools, particularly rural ones, already struggle with overcrowded classrooms, outdated facilities, and insufficient educational materials. So, the funding loss makes it even harder for public schools to offer high quality education. This fuels a cycle of disinvestment and declining standards. Oh, and say goodbye to things like sports, clubs, and after school programs. That’s where cuts come first.

School vouchers weaken the public education system. Public schools serve students from various socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and abilities, providing an equitable education regardless of a student’s circumstances. School vouchers starve this opportunity-creating system by shifting resources to private institutions that have lower accountability standards. Private schools do not adhere to the same, high standards of public schools, such as teacher certification, curriculum requirements, and access for students with disabilities. Lack of oversight decreases educational quality for private-school students, especially those with special needs or those from marginalized communities. Cuts to public schools makes it harder for them to serve a diverse student population as well.

Count on school vouchers to exacerbate inequality by benefiting wealthier families. That bears repeating: School vouchers help the wealthy while harming the poor.

Trump and today’s new brand of billionaire robber barons have captured our federal government and they love the all-GOP, all-the-time make up of Idaho’s state government.

Shifting money from the public schools to the private and religious schools favors the rich and hurts the poor and that’s why Trump likes it. Brad Little? Who knows. He’s not known for his courage, so it’s likely that he’s just scared to death of Idaho MAGA. And, he’s probably scared of the President. Or, maybe he really doesn’t care about Idaho kids.

It doesn’t really matter what drives our governor. What matters is that he is complicit, and acts enthusiastic, about a terrible terrible school voucher program that can only hurt kids and destroy our education system that has a long history of helping America find her “best and brightest” hidden among our poorest and most disadvantaged populations.

The post HB93 – Making the Rich Richer? appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

(First rule is “me and my wealthy buddies come first.)

Poor Mr. House Speaker Mike Moyle can’t live by the Second Rule any longer. That’s why he is talking about fixing an actual, real problem that hurts us all. The problem? Dark Money in elections.

Sound familiar? It should. Folks have sounded the alarm for years after the US Supreme Court Citizen’s United ruling let corporations and nonprofits spend big dollars electing candidates. That means Political Action Committees (PACs)—(whose names usually include words like “truth”, “freedom,” “America,” and “conservative”)—now run smear campaigns where transparency has gone from shady to pitch black.

A well-seasoned old political goat like Moyle wasn’t troubled by this until last year when it finally became his problem. In the closed Republican primary, PACs spent nearly $190,000 to beat Moyle.

Moyle told the Lewiston Tribune he wants to stop PACs from “saying something that’s not truthful and then hiding how much they spent, where they spent it, and what they did until after the election when it’s too late to counter it.” Poor little fella. It hurts when your frenemies turn on you, doesn’t it? If I don’t sound empathetic, it’s because I am not.

For a dozen years, the meanest, crookedest, stupidest kinds of campaigns have elected the meanest, crookedest, stupidest kinds of politicians. Moyle didn’t care because he kept getting re-elected and his party became the undisputed heavyweight chumps of every branch of Idaho government.

But one-party rule can’t stand long before it starts to fall under its own weight. Now that Moyle is at the top of this mess, it’s finally his problem.

If we get some good policy changes because the self-interests of Speaker Moyle accidentally align with the self-governing interests of the public, great!

Be clear, this good policy work isn’t for us taxpaying Idaho citizens, it’s for Moyle. And, he is a model for his whole party—especially those who are trying to chop him down.

This matters because of the other issues at the forefront this year. 

For instance, my opponent, Gov. Brad Little, wants to spend tax dollars on private, religious schools (if this sounds okay, pretend it’s for a religion that you don’t like). He has taken the position … Gosh, the program will be fine! We’ll do good! No way will it blow up in our faces … until well after you finally vote to retire me.

Yes. Brad lives by the Second Rule too.

In the meantime, our best defense is one where we keep the whole team on the field all the time. I encourage everyone to find creative ways to make sure that the politicians who are mismanaging our state finally all end up where Moyle is.

Let’s all work to make sure our problems are “their problems” too.

The post Second Rule of Idaho Politics: If it’s not my problem, it’s not my problem appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

One kind of “freedom” in Idaho is being called “school choice” or “parental choice.” There’s nothing wrong with “choices.” But politicians are debasing, defunding, and dead-ending public education to pay for their so-called choice. It’s absolutely unnecessary, and it’s needlessly cruel to thousands of kids. But the corrupted political leaders have worked hard to make us believe you can only have good public education or good private education—not both. And at this point, they aren’t even hiding behind words like “choice”, they have decided to make your choices for you. So what if you can’t afford private school for your family. They don’t care.

These elected Idaho GOP officials are thieves, stealing your freedoms, and now your public school dollars. Thieves? Basically, yes. What is really happening is that corrupt politicians have discovered that the ghost-givers behind rightwing Super PACs will shovel them tons of campaign dough—just look at the millions that lined their pockets this last campaign cycle—as well as jobs and perks for their friends and families. The hitch is that the private donors will only give big if politicians funnel our tax dollars to them in return. One example: Prager University. Need I say more? Well I will.

It’s a simple scam. But Idaho politicians are fully in charge and they aren’t going to tattle on each other. It helps to have full collusion with the governor’s office, the attorney general, the Legislature, and don’t count on the judiciary staying independent forever either. In fact, they would prefer that we all just stay out of their “business” and continue our straight-ticket, party-line voting because they sure have relied on that for years. And why wouldn’t they? It seems to be working for them.

I know we’re all pretty worn out after being hammered for political attention for the past year. I am not suggesting that you do anything right now. Relax. Enjoy the holidays with family and loved ones. Recover. We are all going to need our strength and stamina to survive the whirlwind that will be the next two years.

So when the middle of January rolls back around, be ready to stand up for yourself and your families—Lord knows there are scarce few politicians who will stand up for you. (And I am so grateful for those who will, but they are vastly outnumbered.)

By then, when you hear Idaho legislators bad-mouthing teachers, or threatening to pass bills to raise your kids for you, or passing laws about what you can read, or telling you that your boys are one trip to the school nurse from becoming girls, or that the school historian’s section on the Civil War is a Marxist plot, or calling you a pedophile because they are completely devoid of any actual moral compass, all the while insisting on kids being read the Bible in public schools, then it will be time to engage. Folks, I thought we dealt with this nonsense seventy-five years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court said no thank you to prayer in school. All that nasty rhetoric will be your cue that they are unabashedly coming after your kids’ learning experience, your town’s gymnasium, your school library, and your reasonably sized classrooms.

And, they’re not just going to gobble up and divert the money from your schools either … that increase in the property tax on your home? Sales tax on your groceries? The gays, and the immigrants, and the universities didn’t do that. The all-powerful political machine that runs this state did —and, frankly, they look like they’re just getting started. So buckle up. We’re in for one hell of a ride.

I am sure you agree with me. That’s an awful big price for “freedom” in Idaho.

The post Freedom Shouldn’t Cost This Much appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

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 nicest thing I can say about that convention is that, while the convention was terrible for freedom, it was great for irony!

The people who attended all have “freedom” and “liberty” tattooed to their shirts, bumpers, buttons, flags, and forearms. Yet, they re-elected an anti-freedom chairwoman, Dorothy Moon, and doubled-down revoking the last 100 years of gains for women’s rights.

One hundred years? Well, they didn’t propose revoking the 19^th Amendment, which guarantees a woman’s right to vote, but I doubt the idea offends them. They did pass a platform plank to revoke every Idahoan’s right to vote for Idaho’s U.S. senators.

In the post-Roe v. Wade era, only fools, appeasers, and cowards deny the danger that extreme, anti-freedom forces in the Republican Party pose.

As for specifically taking away the rights of women, these lovers of “freedom and liberty” declare that embryos are people and that abortions (with zero exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of a pregnant person) be classified as murders. Thus, their platform reads, “We support the criminalization of all murders by abortion within the state’s jurisdiction.”

That means no more in vitro fertilization, IVF.

Logic tells me there must be energy behind finding ways to allow the State to track, record, and intercept our mail. Otherwise, Idaho women still have freedom to buy abortion pills. And, the State will need to prosecute that illicit mailing as murder and attempted murder.

Does any of this feel remotely like freedom to you? Does it look like liberty?

It sure does to my opponent, current Gov. Brad Little.

Mr. Little just sent a fundraising letter declaring that he wants to “KEEP IDAHO RED.”  

Ironically, Mr. Little bragged about his Idaho Launch program, which provides workforce training grants, as proof that Idaho Dems aren’t helping. Come on, Brad. That’s nuts. Not only were Democrats crucial for passing that program, IDGOP Chair Moon and her anti-freedom flag wavers have declared they don’t want Idaho funding education past high school—that’s the Red State opposing good ideas, not Democrats.

It’s worth repeating: Moon and her red state radicals want to end state-funding for higher education. That’s Idaho Republicans proposing a HUGE TUITION HIKE on Idaho families.

It’s all very very bad. And, by now, this isn’t the absent rambling from Idaho’s lunatic fringe that we can ignore. These are policy objectives that Brad Little will let become law, even if he whines about it a little. These ideas are what Idaho Republican lawmakers will champion. These ideas could potentially become instruments of State oppression because a few people—out-of-touch, mean people who only love freedom when it’s written on a t-shirt—held secret deliberations for a couple days in Coeur d’Alene.

It’s true. I have nothing nice to say about Brad Little, or Dorothy Moon, or her beady-eyed gang of red state radicals dead set on taking away our rights.

So, my campaign will operate under this guideline: It doesn’t matter if you can’t say anything nice as long as you’re telling the truth.

The post Moon, Little, and the Red State Radicals Agree: Freedom’s Just a Word On T-Shirts 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.

Okay, I don’t love how my kids keep changing sizes so I have to keep buying clothes. I don’t love that they need enough school supplies to equip an army. I don’t love the endless driving: for shopping trips, for sports physicals, for random errands.

And my heart breaks a little each year that I watch my “little ones” take bigger and bigger steps out in the world.

But I love that we have schools to go back to!

You know who doesn’t love back-to-school time? My opponent, Speaker Scott Bedke, and anti-freedom extremists who he has rolled over for, like the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF).

Speaker Bedke supports “school choice.” That sounds nice, right? It’s not nice. It is double-talk from the far-right about its campaign to put public money into private schools. That’s a very bad idea.

IFF loves the idea of starving public schools, particularly rural ones. That’s a big reason why I refused to legitimize that radical organization when they wanted to host a debate. IFF is so radical that abolishing public schools is their top issue.

What’s not to love about public school?

Well, look at what happens in a school with professional teachers who challenge kids. The kids learn to live and work together. They learn that science is real and that it is the basis of medicine, solving modern problems, and exploring the stars. If they are lucky, kids share classes with kids who aren’t like them. They learn to love the differences, not fear them. They learn to respect other perspectives, not ignore them.

Public school kids learn the skills it takes to make democracy work.

It grieves me to say it, but that respect for diversity that kids might learn in public schools scares people like Speaker Bedke. It fuels his disdain for teachers and students.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation? They attack public schools to weaken our democracy.
Hey, but we still have back-to-school time. We are still strong people who can unite. We have power and we matter.

A vote for me is a vote for someone who will fight for your right to send a kid back to school every year–until they are old enough to vote.

The post Back-to-School Means Democracy is Alive appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.

I am running against a pervasive sense of entitlement that settled over Idaho government like a toxic fog. The politicians in the supermajority have become completely disconnected to regular Idaho people.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Idaho political leaders have become too extreme.

I am the only candidate who will oppose laws that limit our freedom.

I will never hide my decision-making behind closed-door committee rooms.

I will never refuse to share the public’s records with the public.

I will be a tireless advocate for public education.

I will stand up for librarians, kids, parents, and local decision-makers.

I will stand up for the rights of women to make personal reproductive medical decisions.

I will work to make Idaho’s economy give everyone a chance to succeed.

I will not support tax cuts for corporations that raise taxes for homeowners.

I will not let public lands be sold off.

I will not coddle militias and white nationalists.

I will stop the chaos that is so bad for business.

I will not let bullies push us around.

I will be honest, straight-talking and true.

I understand Idaho. I choose to live here and I’ve chosen to raise my children here. I have built my own successful business. I pay attention to the issues that matter to regular people. I always strive to make decisions that benefit us all.

We need to make a difference. Now. 

Please vote for me on Tuesday, May 17.

The post I am the only candidate who will fight for you 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.

They want to control women. Bedke’s House passed an unconstitutional law that eliminates a woman’s right to make personal reproductive medical decisions. To add insult to injury, they’ve given a rapist’s family members the right to sue a woman who chooses to end the pregnancy. (SB1309)

They want to control election outcomes. Under the banner of false fraud claims, Bedke’s House tried to make it harder for hard-working Idahoans to vote out a bad representative. Work to eliminate ballot boxes, change voter registration deadlines, and outlaw absentee ballots hurts voters–a direct affront to freedom. (HB693)

They want to control what your children read. Bedke’s House voted to silence dissent and punish librarians. There is no freedom where the government chooses the reading lists. (HB666)

They want to control teachers. It’s bad enough that they won’t pay salaries large enough to keep professional teachers in Idaho. Bedke’s House also wants to force teachers to avoid teaching about racial inequities, science, and history. (SCR 118)

They want to control businesses. Bedke’s House would criminalize businesses that impose a vaccine requirement, regardless of the health and safety needs of employees and customers. (HB581)

They want to control the judiciary. Bedke’s House doesn’t respect a separate and equal branch of government. They want to take the Idaho State Bar’s right to select attorneys for consideration on the Idaho Judicial Council and give that power to the Governor. (HB782)

They want to control our doctors and parents. Bedke’s House think they know how best to raise your kids. They ignore doctors when it comes to gender-related health care for minors. (H675)

This year, the thriving extremist wing of the Idaho Republican Party unveiled its agenda–a full assault on our personal liberties. Speaker Scott Bedke’s House passed every one of these bills. Nevermind how extreme Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has proven to be. Speaker Bedke is the one who is providing the “leadership” to make the extreme agenda a reality.

Idaho needs responsible and honest leadership. Our freedom is under fire. Idaho needs people who stand up for liberty, people who serve Idaho families, businesses, and communities, people who will not sacrifice freedom for political ambition. When I am elected to be Idaho’s next lieutenant governor, I will fight to protect our freedom.

The post The House That Would Control You appeared first on Terri Pickens for Idaho Governor.