Boise attorney Terri Pickens Manweiler is the first Democratic candidate to announce a bid to be Idaho’s next lieutenant governor.
Pickens Manweiler was born and raised in Pocatello and attended University of Idaho College of Law after graduating from the University of Southern California.
Before becoming a founding partner for Pickens Law in Boise in 2008, she was a public defender for Nez Perce County. She practices commercial and real estate litigation at Pickens Law.
Pickens Mansweiler said she’s running to be a “voice of reason” in the state.
“It’s time to elect leaders who care about Idaho, not just the next campaign headline,” she said. “It’s time to stop the political theater.”
For years, she said, she believed elected officials in Idaho shared her values and cared about the well-being of her family.
“Over the past few years, that belief has been absolutely shattered.”
Pickens Manweiler blasted current lieutenant governor Janice McGeachin for rejecting COVID-19 restrictions and public health recommendations. McGeachin supported businesses in 2020 that opened earlier than allowed to under state health orders.
She also criticized her potential opponent, state Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R-White Bird), and McGeachin for their “Education Indoctrination Task Force” and focusing on things that she said don’t align with the values of Idahoans.
“They care about their public lands, they care about education, they care about their property taxes," Pickens Manweiler said. "They don’t care about protests and critical race theory and issues that really have no impact on their daily lives.”
As an elected official, the lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate and breaks ties in voting if necessary. The position is also first in line to fill in for the governor if they are out of the state, incapacitated, or dead.
Idaho voters haven’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 2002 when Marilyn Howard won her election for superintendent of public instruction.
House Speaker Scott Bedke (R-Oakley), former state Rep. Luke Malek and Giddings are vying for the Republican nomination.
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