Narrator: Presentation of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Logan Finney: Election day is less than three weeks away.

This week, we hear the pitches of Idaho's Democratic candidates for Congress.

Plus, we take a look at the state's fight against invasive quagga mussels in Twin Falls.

I'm Logan Finney, filling in for Melissa Davlin.

The 53rd season of Idaho Reports starts now.

Hello and welcome to Idaho Reports.

This week we take you to Twin Falls, where the Idaho State Department of Agriculture is waging war on an invasive species in the Snake River, with big implications if they lose the battle, then Democratic candidates for Congressional District one Kaylee Petersen and Congressional District two David Roth join us to discuss why they're challenging Idaho's incumbent congressmen Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson.

But first, Idaho has issued another death warrant for inmate Thomas Creech after its first attempt to execute him failed in late February.

Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt called off that attempted execution after staff failed to establish an IV line, along with the latest death warrant, IDOC has a new procedure for executing death row inmates, which includes establishing a central line if it isn't possible to access peripheral veins through an IV.

Creech's execution is now scheduled for November 13th for the 1981 beating death of David Jensen.

However, late Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with creature's attorneys in an ongoing lawsuit.

This does not grant him an immediate stay of execution, and we're recording on Thursday.

Idaho Reports will keep you updated on how the decision could impact the scheduled execution.

Our producer, Ruth Brown, broke the initial story of how IDOC has renovated the building that houses the execution chamber to make the central line procedure possible.

You can find her reporting and the latest updates at IdahoReports.org Much of the conversation around Idaho's upcoming election has centered on proposition one, and for good reason.

But if you haven't already seen your ballot or voter guide, you may be surprised to find another question there, whether the state should amend the Constitution to say only U.S. citizens can vote in Idaho elections.

But isn't that already the case in Idaho?

We asked Secretary of State Phil McGrane to explain.

Phil McGrane: There is a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

What it does is it reiterates in our Constitution that only citizens may vote in Idaho elections.

So it doesn't matter what type of election, that it is just citizens who will be participating.

I mean, it's pretty straightforward and simple, hence why there's probably not a lot of conversation about it.

The nuance, if we're going to tease out, which is a fair question, is it says an eligible voters should be a citizen.

All right, it doesn't talk about how who can participate in what elections.

The genesis for all of this, for anyone who's curious, really goes to there are 11 cities across the United States, none in Idaho, who have opened up voting to non-citizens.

So closest to us, I believe, is Seattle.

That has raised the question where it's people hadn't really ever addressed this.

They just kind of have assumed and the legislature felt like, no, we need to put just an affirmative statement, whether it's at a statewide election, or also at a local election, it is really reserved for citizens.

Finney: We'll have much more on proposition 1 in a half hour Idaho Reports special airing Friday, October 25th on Idaho Public Television.

We'll make it available online after it airs on our YouTube channel and IdahoReports.org Idaho for decades has urged residents and visitors alike to clean, drain and dry all watercraft and inspect them for invasive species that could be transported from waterways in other states.

Idaho first detected invasive quagga mussel larvae last fall in the Snake River at Twin Falls, taking rapid steps to treat that stretch of river in hopes of stopping the invasive pest from spreading.

Last week, we traveled to Twin Falls to see the state Department of Agriculture's second year of treatment on the mid-Snake up close and to learn what might happen if quagga mussels are allowed to reach other waterways in Idaho.

Dr. West Bishop: It's in the Snake, but this is the first confirmed finding of the quagga mussel, not just in the state, not just in waters of Idaho, but in the entire northwest United States of America.

Chanel Tewalt: They're filter feeders.

They take out everything good, and they leave very little for other species.

And so there's a huge impact on fish species.

But in Idaho, we're really focused on the impact they would have for irrigation and power generation.

So quagga mussels attach to any hard substrate, to the river bottom, to turbines, to irrigation pipes, and they choke down an irrigation pipe almost to a trickle.

So if you can imagine how hard it is for farmers and ranchers to do their job normally, think about the complications in a state that depends on irrigation if we can't get irrigation water through a line.

Bishop: The muscles are so prolific, one adult can produce over a million offspring in a single year.

So if you do the math, that's thousands every day.

They can achieve over 30,000 individuals per meter squared of water, and they can attach to all surfaces, grow over 400ft deep.

And what they do is they essentially choke out all other life.

They become 80% to 90% of all the life in this aquatic system becomes quagga mussel.

Tewalt: By the time we would know when you would visually be able to see an infestation, it's too far gone at that point.

By the time we felt the repercussions, we can no longer treat.

And so we are trying to treat before that point.

But it is hard because you're talking about a species that reproduces at a microscopic level, and that's when we can really eradicate.

That's when our best chances are.

Nic Zurfluh: Fortunately, we're we're just finding it right here.

So quagga mussels between Twin Falls Reservoir downstream to Centennial Park.

At that point, we work with our treatment team on developing a treatment strategy to address the problem.

That involves utilizing chelated copper.

Jeremy Varley: When you look on paper and you say, yeah, this is just 8, 8.6 miles of treatment, that sounds really simple, but we as you kind of drive through it, it's quite a bit more.

Lots of logistics, lots of moving pieces, to make sure everything kind of gets to where it goes.

Every day at 10:00, for the last few days, we've been kicking on a new a new section.

So getting those all out, bringing all the water volume up to one part per million.

I mean, it's, every little section is unique.

And has its unique challenges to it.

Zurfluh: Characteristics of water flow, of volume, species of concerns, usage, that all changes as you move even just, you know, 30 miles downstream or just ten miles upstream.

Tewalt: This is, an extension of the important work that we did on the river last year.

This is not a part of the river that we treated though, because there were no valid detections here in 2023, despite extensive sampling.

But we are here to finish this important work.

Bishop: Our goal, our mission, is to eradicate the quagga mussel and all life forms of it out of the Snake and protect and restore this waterway and subsequently all the connected waterways in the northwest US.

This quagga mussel, this invasive species, is a blatant bio warfare threat to our precious natural resources.

Varley: If you enjoy Idaho, this is, This should be a very big concern because this this water touches everybody.

Bishop: Yes, it's the Snake.

And yes, we're in Idaho, but it's such a much bigger mission.

Multiple states and even Canada connect to this.

If the quagga mussel is allowed to go unabated, it doesn't just impact the waters and the resources here in Idaho, it's everything that's connected downstream.

Zurfluh: The details that are rolled out in a response like this come from the water body at that time, because we're going to have different challenges.

Say, if we go up to the north, Idaho lakes like Coeur d'Alene and Pend Oreille and Priest.

We're going to have different challenges in Southeast Idaho, like Bear Lake and Henry's Lake.

Tewalt: We have lakes in North Idaho that are so deep that it would be physically impractical or impossible to treat.

You simply couldn't get enough product to make a treatment there.

That's where we have to protect that precious water body.

There's also other water bodies in the state that have species of concern or endangered species, where we know that we wouldn't necessarily be allowed to make a treatment like this.

Zurfluh: The more experts we can have at the table, addressing issues that come up and finding solutions, the better.

Because that's how we're going to get the most robust treatment plan and be able to implement the plan safely, methodically and really cause the highest level of mortality to the quagga mussels as we're progressing through the treatment.

Tewalt: Early detection and rapid response is the only way that you can work towards eradicating an invasive species.

Zurfluh: Really, we're just maintaining monitoring the copper levels throughout the treatment area.

Addressing any, any areas that need higher, higher concentrates of copper brought up.

And really right now we're fine tuning where we're at on the treatment.

Tewalt: A ton of partners, whether it was Fish and Game, Department of Water Resources, Department of Parks and Recreation, all of those partners and those state agencies came to bear their their expertise and their patience and their assistance to us to pull off something that seemed impossible.

And Idaho Power was an incredible partner.

Local jurisdictions, all of those folks, in 2023.

We did something that was bigger and more expansive than anything anyone has ever attempted in North America.

That was the 2023 project, and what we're doing in 2024 is even bigger than that.

Bishop: I've never seen anything like it.

We work all over the country.

We work on eradication programs of invasive species all over the country and, and, and a couple other countries, too.

I've never seen anything like this operation.

I've never even heard of anything like this.

To target an invasive species in an aquatic resource like this.

Finney: On the Idaho Reports podcast this week, you'll find my extended interview on the eradication effort with Department of Agriculture Director Chanel Tewalt wherever you listen to podcasts.

For decades, Idaho Public Television has hosted the Idaho Debates for statewide and congressional candidates in the primary and general elections.

This general election had two potential debates between candidates for congressional districts one and two.

Seats currently held by Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson, both incumbents declined our invitation to debate.

Because we don't host debates with only one candidate, that effectively canceled our debate plans this fall.

But we wanted to give our viewers the chance to hear from Democratic candidates Kaylee Peterson and David Roth.

First up, Congressional District one, Western Idaho, stretches from the Canadian border to Boise.

Incumbent Congressman Russ Fulcher was first elected to serve district 1 in 2018.

Peterson is a student at the College of Western Idaho and mother of two from Eagle.

This is her second time challenging Fulcher.

Producer Ruth Brown sat down with Peterson this week to talk about the race in Congressional District one.

Ruth Brown: Mrs. Peterson, thank you for joining me.

tell me, why are you running for office?

Kaylee Peterson: I first got involved in 2022.

Mainly because 60 to 70% of the races in this state were running uncontested.

And to me, that meant that 60 to 70% of elected officials had absolutely no accountability in voters had no choice.

So when I first got involved in this race, it was mainly to give voters a choice and to try and hold elected officials accountable.

And now that I've run this race for the last two and a half, almost three years, I realized there's so much opportunity to really unite rural communities around common sense policies.

And that's become my driving mission.

Brown: What makes... you did run previously?

What makes 2024 different than your prior run?

Peterson: It is completely night and day.

I think in 2022, I was a first time unknown candidate running for a federal position.

So I was really getting to know the district, getting to know communities, getting to know the political landscape and what communities really needed.

Now we're able to really accomplish different things and to hold Russ Fulcher accountable.

We're able to provide different measures for communities that we weren't able to.

So what we've been able to accomplish is just so much greater than what we were able to do in 22. if Republicans do retain control of Congress, or if we have a Republican administration, how would you work with, folks across the aisle?

Peterson: Oh, absolutely.

I for me, this entire campaign has been learning how to collaborate with people who might disagree with my policies or my beliefs, people from all different kinds of lifestyles, especially with how diverse the first district can be as far as people's life experience.

And so, all in all, it's really been about is focusing on the policy.

So when we focus on what the issue is and what the policy solutions are, the conversations have been so incredibly meaningful and productive.

That's where we really need to get to.

Brown: Idaho is a conservative state.

If the Democrats maintain or excuse me, if the Democrats have majority.

How would you represent the majority of a conservative state?

well, being a Democrat.

Peterson: Once again, I find a lot of us talk about Republican and Democrat and the way that we label our party affiliations and so many of the conversations that I'm having up and down the state aren't about party affiliations.

They're really just about policy.

And so far, most of the conservative voters that I'm speaking to actually agree with a lot of our policy stances.

So for me, it's trying to move past the party politics and trying to score political points by, by saying special interest in our social media sound bite.

And it's really just about finding a policy solution to address the really urgent concerns of this community.

Brown: Speaking of policy solutions, are there areas that you would say you differ from Vice President Harris?

Peterson: Absolutely.

I think for me, first and foremost, there's been a loss of faith that our system actually works for working class people.

And so for me, holding the government accountable, holding those in positions of authority accountable and holding corporations accountable are some of my top priorities.

And that's something I don't see as a huge focus right now with this administration.

So things like banning congressional stock trades, term limits, ethics committees, consequences for elected officials who don't do their job.

That's a huge priority for me as far as health care.

I don't think there's an emphasis enough on how much taxpayer money is going to insurance companies, only for insurance companies to turn around and deny hardworking families.

So that would be a huge emphasis for me.

Brown: Let's transition.

You brought it up.

Health care.

What would you do to improve the affordability of, of health care in the state?

Peterson: I think there's actually a piece of legislation right now focused on transparency, because right now in our health care system, there's absolutely no transparency for consumers.

So if we want to rely on a free market, then we have to allow that free market to, to compete.

But to be honest, I what I see are hard working families that are shelling out hundreds to thousands of dollars each month for insurance companies to not only deny, but then dictate what their kind of, what their, their solutions dictating what doctors are doing with their patients.

There's actually a lawsuit right now that is suing insurance companies for practicing medicine without a license.

So for me, it's about really making sure that insurance companies are not the power holder in these transactions transactions.

Brown: Let's talk about a different kind of health care.

You've said one of your top goals is abortion choice.

But you live in a state that is, that does have a very conservative legislature.

Idahoans continue to overwhelmingly vote for anti-abortion policymakers.

How how would you balance your beliefs while representing constituents who, who may not agree with you?

Peterson: I think that's a big problem in our political process, is the majority of Idahoans support reproductive freedom.

The majority of Idahoans actually agree that the government should not be making these kind of decisions.

And the vast majority of us agree that the strict trigger laws that abortion has in place has absolutely destroyed access to health care for Idaho women.

And so seeing our legislature continually vote against the interests of the people and the will of the people is really the issue.

And running against somebody who is arguing on the Supreme Court steps against the EMTALA ruling.

That emergency care physician should not provide lifesaving treatment.

Somebody who travels up and down the state telling, telling constituents that people like me believe in abortion after birth.

This is a huge issue.

So it's something that I'm really adamant about because I'm talking to Idaho communities are there.

Brown: So should there be a federal law in place?

Are there concessions that you would make, and are there lines that you would draw as far as, exemptions that you believe should be in law, regarding abortion?

Peterson: I honestly believe the government should have absolutely no role in making this kind of decision for women.

Any step towards progress that we can make, giving women this autonomy back.

And also understanding the nuance of these situations, the stories that I've heard up and down the state are devastating, and they're personal and they're very real for the vast majority of Idaho women.

And so trying to bring the government in to deal with these really personal, devastating and medical decisions is just inappropriate.

But I'm always willing to have these conversations.

I mean, any step towards progress or compromise that we can get in this state, I think, would be a step in the right direction.

Brown: Let's move to education.

you do have plans to improve public schools, but, our legislature and, are each elected in their district, allocates that funding, and they might have different views than what you do.

What can you tell me about some of your plans?

What do you think needs to be done to improve public education?

Peterson: Well, right now at the federal level, there are all these opportunities for funding that we're simply not taking.

For instance, earmarked funding.

This district brought in $0 and that's taxpayer funded.

That's already a part of the budget.

So it's not increasing any kind of deficit.

But let that alone.

I think that the federal government's role in education should be ensuring that every single child in this country has access to a quality education specifically geared towards rural communities that might struggle to afford that kind of, upkeep and maintenance and teacher pay.

So that's where I see the role of the federal government ensuring that funding is available specifically in areas like most of the first district that struggles to afford those things, teacher pay and the relationship there.

And also, I personally think that maybe the federal government needs to take another look at, deregulating some of the standardized testing requirements that we have and handing some of that control back to local communities so that teachers can do their best.

Brown: Kaylee Peterson, we're going to have to leave it there.

Thank you so much for your time.

Peterson: Thank you so much for having me.

Finney: Congressional district two, Eastern Idaho, stretches from Boise to the Wyoming border.

Incumbent Congressman Mike Simpson was first elected to serve district 2 in 1998.

Roth is a consultant and father of two from Idaho Falls.

He most recently challenged Mike Crapo for Senate in 2022.

I spoke with Roth this week to talk about the race in congressional District two.

Finney: Mr. Roth, thanks so much for joining us.

What's your motivation for running for office?

David Roth: You know, I think that every candidate sees something different in why they need to run for office.

And I've been involved in politics for quite a while.

And this year, more than ever, I really think that I had to run, because their decisions being made affecting people's lives, people and people are dying.

People are losing their rights and at a certain point, we have to stand up and say, enough is enough.

And we have to continue to push forward for change.

Finney: Going back to the abortion issue, you've said you would vote to restore Roe versus Wade.

Ensuring bodily autonomy is recognized and protected for all women.

But how would you work to affect that without a seat on Supreme Court Do you see that congress could pass a sort of national abortion law?

And what should that look like in your eyes?

Roth: So I think that, you know, we've talked about it several times.

Vice President Harris has talked about it.

We had Roe v Wade for over 50 years in this country.

It was the law of the land, and the Supreme Court did choose to strip those important protections away.

It's up to Congress, has the ability to pass laws, to protect those rights, much like we pass laws protecting any number of other rights throughout the country.

And there is absolutely a danger, that the Supreme Court could consider, continue to set precedent and their long standing, and long standing, settled law aside, and try to overrule that.

But I think that we can't govern our country by sitting down and being afraid of what one group of people in a building in DC are going to do.

We need to start doing what's right.

And if they continue, to push back and try to take away those rights, then there are other options that we'll have to look at.

We've already seen the Biden administration proposing, some reforms for the Supreme Court, such as term limits, such as, a binding code of ethics.

And I think that many in this country can agree that we want to have confidence that our Supreme Court is acting in an ethical manner.

And so I think that and more and more that you're seeing coming out, some things are being questioned there.

I do think that there is option also to look at the number of justices that are on the court.

We've for throughout our country's history, we've seen that number of justices fluctuate.

Congress does have the ability to adjust that number.

The number of justices is not constitutionally mandated.

And traditionally, each justice has been responsive for responsible for one appellate court district.

But we have 13 appellate court districts and only nine justices.

So some are having to double up.

So there certainly is, precedent for matching that number of justices to those appellate courts.

and I think that at a certain point, we have to start looking at how our institutions may no longer be acting in the best interests and, and the powers that are given to the people to adjust, that we don't have to have revolutions and wars.

Our Constitution has granted the power to the people to when they are not happy with the way things are going to make a difference.

I also think that one of the reasons you've seen some of these really extreme laws come into place is because the other side of the aisle has found that they can do these things, and there's virtually no cost to them.

There's no reason to hold accountable.

you have it doesn't particularly cost them in elections.

It doesn't cost them with their donors.

And so there's really no reason if they're not listening to the people to to change the way that they're acting, because traditionally they're not being held accountable.

And so turning a red light district to an Idaho, I think, really sends a message to many of those extremists out there that enough is enough, that we've pushed the people far enough, and maybe they need to start thinking less about winning points for their, for their donors and for their special interest groups and their side and more about what's best for the people.

Because ultimately, in our country, the people have the final say.

Finney: As you've been running for the seat, of course you're a Democratic nominee in Idaho, which is a very deeply Partisan Republican state.

What sort of reception have you gotten from voters who, in your eyes, their elected officials are not representing them, but they keep voting for those officials.

How do you how do you explain that interplay?

Roth: So, the majority of the people that I actually meet, whether it's at events or just out in the community, are actually quite receptive to hearing what I have to say.

They are very disappointed with the way that Simpson has been representing them for nearly a quarter of a century.

One of the biggest challenges that you find, though, is that in our system of government, incumbents have a tremendous advantage, and there are a lot of people out there that we simply can't reach and talk to about our message, or who have disengaged from the political process pretty much at all, other than showing up to vote, and they're just voting straight down the party that they've always voted.

Not really realizing how much that party has actually changed.

And so I think that, you know, one of the biggest obstacles we have to overcome is actually getting our message out there and actually getting people to compare and contrast.

And the incumbents have a tremendous advantage in that they can very easily get op-eds and pieces printed in the media, because they're not they're not getting printed as a candidate or nominee.

They're getting print, printed as the sitting lawmaker.

And so when you do have opportunity used to try to contrast, such as debates or endorsement interviews, the Republicans don't show.

We're having this interview because Mike Simpson didn't bother to respond to the request for the debate.

And so, I think that you have to really look at they're not willing to stand by their policies and allow those to be contrasted or compared because it doesn't do them.

And there's no benefit for them.

They know that the less people know about what they're actually doing, the better off that they are.

And you see it all the time.

We have two years ago, the Chips and Science Act passed.

Every single member of the Idaho delegation, including Mike Simpson, voted against that, that bill.

However, they all showed up at the two year anniversary to take the tour of the $25 billion plant that micron is building near Boise and state credit for bringing that investment to Idaho.

And so when people see that side, but they don't see the side of, hey, actually, the Idaho delegation voted against this.

Then I think that the voters aren't giving aren't being given the information to make that educated decision.

And I realize that the onus is on me as a candidate to to get that message out there and the word out there.

But we're in a red state.

If you look at the races, they're completely unbalanced financially.

Finney: All right.

Roth: Mike Simpson has 15 times the resources that I have.

And in my Senate race in 2022, Crapo spent just about between him and independent expenditures, about 10 million versus about 105,000 that we were able to spend.

So in reality, I don't believe that the average Idaho voter really has been given the information to make an informed decision.

Finney: All right, David, well, I am going to have to cut you off there.

David Roth, Democratic candidate for Congressional District two.

Thanks so much for making time for us.

This week.

Roth: No problem.

Finney: Election day is less than three weeks away.

Coming up on Tuesday, November 5th.

In-person early voting is available in some Idaho counties.

And the deadline to request an absentee ballot is October 25th.

Find more information online at VoteIdaho.gov We'll have much more on proposition 1 in a half hour special airing Friday, October 25th.

Be sure to follow us online and subscribe to our newsletter to always get the latest from Idaho Reports.

Thanks so much for watching.

We'll see you next week.

Presentation of Idaho Reports on Idaho Public Television is made possible through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the great state of Idaho.

By the Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.