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City Cast Boise

Boise voters will head to the polls on Nov. 4 to choose City Council members and decide on land conservation, and more. This guide highlights who’s on the ballot, how to understand the clean water levy, and how to make your vote count.

There are three seats up for grabs in this election and seven candidates.

This election will prove more challenging for Hallyburton, who ran unopposed in 2023. Bradescu is a member of the Ada County Republican Central Committee. Sánchez is a former City Council member who has faced questions about her 

Boise voters are being asked to approve an 

 over 2026 to 2027 to fund the purchase and protection of open spaces, parks, wildlife habitats, and clean water initiatives.

A “yes” vote will continue efforts to conserve land, reduce wildfire risks, develop parks, and expand recreational pathways. This would cost homeowners about $40 a year, on average. Supporters argue the levy preserves Boise’s natural environment and addresses park shortages in certain areas. They point to the city’s 

But it's not clear yet whether Boiseans will accept another property tax hike for open space, 

 the levy will pass. A “no” vote means no new funding, so the city would rely on the remaining $1 million from previous levies.

Can’t remember if you’re registered to vote? 

Confirm if you’re registered in Idaho, here

 in Ada County takes place Oct. 20 through Oct. 31. 

 online. Return your ballot by mail or at any of the following drop box locations by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

You can cast your vote in person from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day at your assigned polling location. 

. Be sure to bring your photo ID with you. Here’s what else you can 

Your Boise 2025 November Ballot Guide

What's being decided in Boise City Hall and why it matters. We monitor local elections, political news, and Boise City Council.

Local Government, and How to Play a Part

Local Civics

President-elect Donald Trump has made a lot of promises on the campaign trail, but which are likely to come to fruition and how would they affect Idaho? We asked Boise State University political scientist Charlie Hunt how he thinks Trump’s second term will look like for our state.

How seriously should we take President-elect Trump’s campaign promises?

“All these sort of promises that he has made over the past couple years when he's been campaigning, one thing I can sort of guarantee is that not all of these things are going to come true. Some of them will, some of them won't, and [it will] depend on the politics of whatever individual situation we're talking about. For those who are, let's say, concerned about [a national abortion ban], that's one legislative area where I think that's not impossible, but unlikely to happen.”

How would trade and tariff policies impact Idaho agriculture?

“[Agriculture] is another area where you see more monoculture farming… that are really changing the agricultural economy and that are having way more effects on Idaho farmers than any one tariff. But if you have these tariffs, coupled with this sort of mass deportation [campaign promise], then you're not going to have the workforce able to meet the new demand for new agricultural industries that Idaho farmers would be looking to get into if they were helped along by tariffs making them more competitive.”

Are you worried that Trump’s rhetoric will change higher education?

“This isn’t one I’m particularly worried about. I think, whatever the terminology is, ‘Marxist, lunatics, and communist,’ that's a tough thing to write into federal code that gets into some thorny issues around free speech and the right of educators to teach their expertise. From my perspective that has not changed anything about the way I teach. I think the most likely outcome for something like this would be something in the vein of what Idaho did, which was a set of laws that didn't necessarily have a ton of teeth that was more symbolic. It's not something that I think is likely to change the way folks in higher ed teach.”

How Trump’s Campaign Policies Would Affect Idaho

Boise State University political scientist Charlie Hunt shares how he thinks Trump’s second term will look like for Idaho.

How Trump's Second Presidential Term Will Affect Idaho

How Trump's Second Term Will Affect Idaho

What Boise celebrities, public figures and key citizens have to say about living here.

3 Questions With Boise Public Figures

3 Questions With

This is the second part of a deep dive into Idaho’s abortion landscape and where it might head in 2024. The 

first part covered two lawsuits regarding the state’s main ban

While the future of Idaho’s abortion landscape hinges on the near-total ban the U.S. Supreme Court is considering, two other laws and subsequent lawsuits are still developing in the background.

Matsumoto v. Labrador, ‘Abortion Trafficking’

In yet another groundbreaking post-Roe law, Idaho Republican legislators sought to make it a crime to transport a minor out-of-state to receive an abortion without their parent’s consent. The state calls such interstate travel “abortion trafficking.”

Nampa attorney Lourdes Matsumoto, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance — all of whom sometimes assist minors in accessing abortions in other states where it’s legal — sued, saying the law violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments.

district judge temporarily blocked the “abortion trafficking”

 law from being enforced. She wrote that the plaintiffs were likely correct in saying the law violated First and 14th Amendment rights and that it was overly vague, but threw out the Fourth Amendment argument for a right to intrastate travel.

Idaho still has a six-week abortion ban, which includes 

the Texas-style provision allowing a person’s family members to sue a doctor

 who provides them with an abortion. Even though this ban isn’t as strong as the ban currently in court, the system to report adds an extra feature to Idaho’s abortion landscape that few other states have.

While the future of Idaho’s abortion landscape hinges on the near-total ban the Supreme Court is considering, two other laws and subsequent lawsuits are still developing in the background.

Idaho's 6-Week and 'Abortion Trafficking' Bans

The 6-Week and 'Abortion Trafficking' Bans

What Boiseans have been wondering. We break down why things in Boise are the way they are and how they work.


Boise, Explained

The Idaho Republican Party, under the far-right leadership of former legislator and candidate for secretary of state Dorothy Moon, has made a gamble: The GOP will be able to maintain and gain control of the state if young voters, partisan dissenters, potential new voters, and women are excluded from the party’s priority list.

party leadership made those decisions official

. Here are the three main new rules gathering attention from within their own ranks.

If an Idaho voter wants to change their party affiliation from a different party to Republican, they must wait until one year has passed since the end of the year of making that change. That means if you were a registered Democrat and you changed your affiliation to Republican on Jan. 1, 2023, you will have to wait until Dec. 30, 2024 to actually become a Republican voter.

Women, Young Republicans Stripped of Privileges

Within the Idaho Republican Party, the GOP Central Committee calls the shots. Now, the Idaho Federation of Republican Women, Young Republicans, and College Young Republicans chapters 

 on the executive committee. Women and youth can still vote on the board in other capacities — but those chapters no longer can.

The Idaho GOP can censure elected members of their party, and passed several votes of no confidence for politicians such as Gov. Brad Little and lawmakers.. Moon has repeated that the party stands for the state and U.S. constitutions, thus officially aligning the Republican Party with banning books and punishing fellow Republicans who disagree with the party platform in any way.

Those Republicans who disagree with these changes aren’t going down quietly.

Just a couple of weeks ago on City Cast Boise, Republican State Sen. Geoff Schroeder 

rejoiced in his “F” rating from the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF)

, the conservative think tank that has unofficially called the shots and punitively “graded” legislators for years.

“It’s a pity that it couldn’t go lower,” he said. “You either go in lockstep with what their commands are, or you get thrown out.”

Canyon County Republican Women Executive Board rang the alarm

 in an article after the Idaho Federation of Republican Women were stripped of their voting privileges.

“Rather than work to enact policies that represent the preferences of most Idaho Republicans,” they wrote, “[the current leadership of the Idaho GOP] worked to purge the party of those who do not share their fanatical, revisionist views.”

The Idaho GOP's New Playbook

The GOP’s New(ish) Playbook

Boise isn’t the only city in Idaho that now has to vote for its city council members by district. Meridian and Nampa both have over 100,000 residents, which means they both have to follow the new requirement from the Legislature.

I’ll dig into Meridian’s mayoral race once it’s shaped up a bit more, but here’s where the city council races stand.

’s seat isn’t up for election this cycle.

 Here’s the most significant race that’s shaped up so far: Two incumbents, 

, are running for this seat. Hoaglun holds the council’s third seat, but only because it was called that when he was last elected.

 No one has announced they’re running for this seat yet, as far as I could find.

 is a retired police officer who was selected by Mayor Robert Simison to fill the vacated seat of a member who left to work as a legislator, and was sworn in in January. He’s running for election.

’s seat is up for election this November, and has yet to announce whether she’ll run for her seat. 

 that she’s the only current council member who was drawn out of their district, so she’d have to move to run for the same seat again.

’s term doesn’t expire until January 2026.

Who's Running in the Meridian City Council Elections?

Welcome back to the local politics corner! Last week we took a look at the shape of the mayoral race; now, here’s where city council races stand.

As a reminder, these elections are for the first time district-based, rather than city-wide. Districts 1, 3, and 5 currently have designated council members and the other seats are at-large — but no longer!

Because three of the six city council seats seemingly settled this time last year have since been vacated and temporarily filled, or the incumbent won’t be running. This election will be … interesting to watch. It’ll also be changing quickly, but now that we’re five months out, here’s a snapshot.

, the council’s lone Republican, is running for re-election and so far has no challengers.

 against another former Democratic legislator, 

District 3 - Southwest Boise & some Central Bench

 is the current appointee in this district, and hasn’t announced whether she’ll be running.

Chris Blanchard, an urban studies specialist, is 

Greg MacMillan, who previously ran for the third seat, 

 that he was going to wait to see who else was running before making a decision. He hasn’t announced yet, but he’s been regularly updating 

 this year, with a spike in the last couple weeks, so we’ll see if that means anything.

Joe Evans, whose name you might remember from a 

City Cast Boise conversation with Kind Idaho

libertarian perspective to this council seat

 is currently running a strong and unchallenged campaign here.

District 5 - Downtown, East End, some North End

The council’s most veteran member (though she’s only served since 2017) 

Holli Woodings announced that she won’t run for reelection

. Will she join the mayoral race? Go back to the Legislature? Do something else entirely?

Unanswered questions aside, her decision leaves a vacant district five seat that just months ago promised a tough race between Woodings and former incumbent Elaine Clegg. And so far, no one’s running to claim it.

District 6 - Some North End, Northwest Boise

 has announced an intent to run for this seat.

, we currently have three districts with no competition in 1, 4, and 6. Some other loose ends: As of yet, at-large incumbent Patrick Baegant hasn’t announced a campaign, and hasn’t received any donations. Former city councilmember Lisa Sánchez has received donations, though it’s not clear yet in which district she’ll run.

current city council campaign finance reports

 for yourself, and we’ll keep you updated as things change!

Who's Running in Your City Council District?

Starting in just under a month, you’ll have a chance to weigh in on one of the most important changes facing Boise.

, the first of its kind since the 1960s, is an attempt to modernize Boise, diversify housing and transportation options, and generally shape our future so it doesn’t feel like we’re constantly trying to fix old systems.

But will it work? What would a “successful” code even look like? 

, or will businesses be prioritized over homes? These are the great questions of our time!

The city’s planning and zoning commission already gave the plan a hearty thumbs-up, and now it’s headed to the next stage of its years-long process.

The week of June 12, neighborhood associations, staff, and members of the public will all throw in their two cents. That Thursday, June 15, will wrap up the public feedback with a Q&A, rebuttal, and ultimately a decision from city council.

You can also submit written comments until June 8 by sending them to 

 about how the rewrite could affect your neighborhood and other places you care about.

🌡️ How Do You Feel About the Rewrite?

How to Have Your Say in the Zoning Code

Tips and tricks for living your best Boise life, by locals, for locals.

Boise Life Hacks

Idaho Supreme Court upheld Idaho’s abortion bans

. Now, there are no built-in exceptions that allow for legal abortions in the state, though there are limited defenses known as “affirmative defenses” in the case of rape or incest, or if the pregnant person’s life is at risk.

Now, more people than ever are turning to medication abortions. Medication abortions are nonsurgical, and are performed by prescribing pills that a patient can take at home during early pregnancy. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 

abortion pills accounted for over half of all abortions in the U.S.

 on a federal level, and are taking center stage as the next target of the anti-abortion movement. But as of now, the 

U.S. Postal Service is still allowed to deliver mail-order abortion medications

, even to states where abortions are illegal.



So what are abortion pills? The medications are typically taken in one of two regimens: either 

, or mifepristone, followed by misoprostol. Note: they are not “Plan B,” or any other form of contraceptive.



Mifepristone stops the maintenance of a pregnancy

misoprostol is then used to induce uterine contractions

 and sheds the lining of the uterus, and the pregnancy with it. Misoprostol is commonly used to induce labor or facilitate medical miscarriages as well.

In 2000, the 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone

 for early abortions, up to eleven weeks. Since then, abortion pills have become more common. Data continues to show that abortion pills have a 

complication rate of only 2.2 per 1,000 people

mutual aid collective Idaho Abortion Rights

 advocates and educates for abortion access, including abortion pills.

Legally, abortion pills are in a murky situation for Idahoans. While it’s still legal to order and possess abortion pills, Idaho pharmacists can’t fill a prescription for them, and Idaho physicians can’t prescribe them for abortions. That's why anti-abortion activists and politicians will likely continue to push for the shipping of these medications to be illegal, cutting off the messenger.

What to Know About Abortion Pills in Idaho

 the city’s first commission-drawn council map last week.

In 2020, the Idaho 

 with over 100,000 residents to elect city council members by district. Previously, city council seats were elected city-wide, and were 

disproportionately held by wealthy North and East End

 residents.

The map drawing was a long and arduous process, with twenty different iterations being considered over the three-month process, all aimed at keeping populations between districts as equal as possible.



 — of which there are dozens — into different districts.

split eleven of the city’s 34 neighborhood associations

, saying that their suburban district should not extend south beyond I-84.

five of the six current council members will face a fellow member

districts two, three, and four will need brand new candidates

local politics

Your Boise 2025 November Ballot Guide

How Trump's Second Term Will Affect Idaho

The 6-Week and 'Abortion Trafficking' Bans

Latest articles

Your Boise 2025 November Ballot Guide

How Trump's Second Term Will Affect Idaho

The 6-Week and 'Abortion Trafficking' Bans

The GOP’s New(ish) Playbook

Who's Running in the Meridian City Council Elections?

Who's Running in Your City Council District?

How to Have Your Say in the Zoning Code

Latest articles

The GOP’s New(ish) Playbook

Who's Running in the Meridian City Council Elections?

Who's Running in Your City Council District?

How to Have Your Say in the Zoning Code

What to Know About Abortion Pills in Idaho

Local Civics: The New City Council Map