Gov. Brad Little to face Democrat Terri Pickens in Idaho governor’s race

Gov. Brad Little, R-Idaho, will face Democratic nominee Terri Pickens in November as she runs for a third term.

Pickens, a private practice attorney and small business owner, bested several rivals in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

He faces an uphill battle in a Republican-dominated state that hasn’t elected a Democratic governor in 36 years.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, a leading election forecaster, rates Little’s reelection bid as “Solid Republican.”

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Pickens previously ran as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022, losing to Republican candidate Scott Bedke by 34 points. Bedke is the state’s current lieutenant governor and is running for another term.

Little, who won the state’s GOP primary, is backed by President Donald Trump and is expected to advance to the general election.

Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Stegner also launched a bid to strip Little as an independent.

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Little, a rancher who previously served in the state Senate and served as lieutenant governor, has embraced deregulation, increased public education funding and tax cuts in his bid for a third term.

He defeated a crowded field of GOP candidates on Tuesday, including former police officer Mark Fitzpatrick, who is challenging him from the right.

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Little recently signed into law a bill cracking down on transgender people who use bathrooms that do not match their biological sex. Idaho law is one of the strictest in the country because it applies to private businesses as well as public property.