Voters in Idaho's Second Congressional District have been represented by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) for nearly three decades. This November, he's facing several challengers who say it's time for a change.
One of them is Democrat Ellie Gilbreath. She is an attorney and mediator from Ketchum who's spent more than two decades helping people and organizations work through conflict.
Gilbreath has never held elected office, but she says that experience in finding common ground is exactly what's missing in Washington, D.C.
She's campaigning on making life more affordable for Idaho families, protecting public lands and water and holding Congress accountable to the people it represents.
Gilbreath joined Idaho Matters to talk about her campaign and why she believes it's time for new leadership in Idaho's Second District.
In order to focus our interviews of statewide candidates, click here to see the rules that guided our outreach efforts. To see the full interviews for those who responded, click here.
Read a transcript of the entire conversation below:
Gemma Gaudette: From the studios of Boise State Public Radio News. I'm Gemma Gaudette. You're listening to Idaho Matters. Voters in Idaho's second congressional district have been represented by Republican Mike Simpson for nearly three decades, but this November, he is facing several challengers who say it's time for a change. One of them is Democrat Ellie Gilbreath, an attorney and mediator from Ketchum who spent more than two decades helping people and organizations work through conflict. Now, Gilbreath has never held elected office. But she says that experience in finding common ground is exactly what's missing on Capitol Hill. She's campaigning on making life more affordable for Idaho families, protecting public lands and water, and holding Congress accountable to the people it represents. Ellie Gilbreath is joining us now to talk about her campaign and why she believes it's time for new leadership in our state's second district. Ellie, really nice to have you with us today. Thanks for joining us.
Ellie Gilbreath: So nice to be here. And thank you so much for inviting me to be with you.
Gemma Gaudette: So, as I mentioned, you spent much of your career as an attorney as well as a mediator, and you help folks resolve conflicts. You have never run for political office before, but I mean, you have to start somewhere, right? So, what made you decide that now was the time to run for Congress?
Ellie Gilbreath: Well, you know, I actually spent my entire career in mediation and conflict resolution and in strategic conflict solving, you know, major problems where people were really diametrically opposed in their positions and finding that common ground. And so, I knew I had the skill set and the motivation was partly I took an oath to protect the Constitution. And I took that oath very seriously. And I think the main driver was, you know, I've been here 24 years. And what I knew to be true is we are more divided. You know, we have this narrative that we're all divided. It's this right versus left and especially here in Idaho. And I knew it just wasn't true. On my street. We have people who are members of MAGA, who are libertarians, who are Republicans, veterans, Democrats, and we're a community. And I saw that throughout Idaho, and I wanted that to be preserved for our communities and also for our children and for my grandchildren. That that's Idaho.
Gemma Gaudette: You know, you've said one of your biggest priorities is restoring Congress to its constitutional role. In fact, you've argued that lawmakers have become just too loyal to their parties and to a president. So, what specifically do you believe Congress has failed to do? And can you point to something maybe Congressman Simpson has done that you believe illustrates that problem?
Ellie Gilbreath: So, I think Congress I think like in The Wizard of Oz, they've gone through the poppy field and they've all fallen asleep. Um, and, and they've really fallen asleep at the wheel and forgotten what the job is. The Constitution makes it very clear you are meant to represent your constituents. So here for my role it's district two. And if it's good for district two, it's a yes. If it's not good for district two. In Idaho it's a no. And that is the job. It's very narrow and it's very clear. And it's loyalty to Idaho and your district. It's not loyalty to a party or a president or special interests. And there have been with all of our representatives in the last few years. Um, people aren't standing up for Idaho and for our interests and they aren't speaking up. And that's the job. And so, the tariffs are really crushing our farmers and small business. I have a neighbor who had one of the fastest growing small businesses in Idaho, and she almost lost her business in her house because of the tariffs. Um, and they are crushing our farmers. You know, Canada and Mexico are good neighbors and trade partners, and we're an agricultural state. And so we need solutions there with tariffs. We need someone that's going to stand up and fight for us. And the prices for gas and diesel. I mean everyone knows that. We don't have to remind people. They're reminded every time they're at the gas pump. And especially for our farmers that rely on diesel. Um, it's, it's crushing us. And those are policies and those are policies that can be changed and it will change the outcome for Idahoans.
Gemma Gaudette: You've described yourself as a moderate. I mean, even a centrist. And you've said you could have run as a Republican, even an independent. So, my question to you is why decide to run as a Democrat then? I mean, where do you disagree with your own party?
Ellie Gilbreath: Um, you know, it's what you said earlier. I hadn't run for office before, so I knew that I needed a foundation beneath me. Uh, even with that, it wasn't a super strong foundation. And I had to do a lot of learning on the job for campaigning. Um, but we did that. I'm a quick learner and I, I believe in the principles and the values of democracy and the Democratic Party that I grew up with. Um, I'll have a lot of Republicans I meet. The first thing they say to me is they want me to know they aren't one of those Republicans. They'll say, I'm a classic Republican or I'm a Reagan Republican. And I think that the majority of Idahoans feel that way. We are in the middle. We believe in the constitutional values, conservative values in that way. And the rule of law and law applied equally in small government, in state sovereignty. We share those values. I think that's what makes us Idaho and that we are community first and family first, and then we are we have this strong independent spirit. So, we're live and let live. And what I have found on the trail is eight months throughout rural Idaho and our cities is that we are more aligned than we are divided. And there's a distrust of government and a sense that they aren't working for us, and a fear of special interest and a fear of, um, of government not really doing their job. And, you know, sometimes I'll say to people, I'm running to remind the government who they work for because they seem to have forgotten and every person I talk to is sort of like, right on. Um, they, they want to feel again that the government has their back and that, you know, they're working for the many and not the few.
Gemma Gaudette: Well, as you know, Congressman Simpson has been representing district two since 1999. He has continued to win elections. I mean, really pretty comfortable margins. And he's also developed considerable seniority as well as influence on Capitol Hill and in Congress, particularly when it comes to federal spending. So, I'm curious about your argument to voters who believe that experience and influence are actually really valuable to our state. I mean, how do you convince them to replace him with someone who, you know, has never held public office?
Ellie Gilbreath: I don't think it takes much convincing because they're experiencing in their daily lives, um, that seniority and that influence is only valuable if it's used to support your constituents. It's not valuable if you're going along with party lines or insider influence that doesn't benefit Idahoans. And Idahoans are feeling, you know, consistently, they're working harder for less. And so, they also feel that I hear again and again that term limits is critically important. Um, they look at the deficit and say that's not fiscal responsibility. They see that there is inequity in our tax structure that that Idahoans are working hard, paying more than the ultra-wealthy. And that the big, beautiful bill had some good things for some of our farmers. But in many ways, it made life so much harder for Idahoans. You look at health care with the cuts, we had $4.3 billion in Medicaid cuts. Yes, we got a $500 million package for health care that was touted as this great win. Well, Idahoans can do the math. That leaves us with a $3.8 billion deficit, and they're feeling the pain. So, I don't think that part takes much convincing.
Gemma Gaudette: I want to talk next about, um, growing the cost of living in Idaho. This is something you've talked about, particularly when it comes to housing. And one of your proposals is to actually ban corporations from purchasing single family homes. So how exactly would that work? I mean, would it apply to all businesses, including maybe some small local investors? I mean, how much do you believe it would actually lower housing costs?
Ellie Gilbreath: I don't think that any one action is a solution. I think there are going to be with any complex problems, there are going to be multiple facets of that solution. That's one aspect of the bipartisan housing bill that was passed in Congress. And I think that element is important from the data that I've seen so far. I certainly would review the data and see what kind of impact that's having. I know that housing costs for starter homes has doubled. You could get a starter home in Idaho for 200,000 plus, and now it's double that. And so, the problem is real. And I know that there is a solution when we work together to find it. And I think that's the issue that you mentioned earlier in Congress, this idea that it's some football game and that it's the right against the left and this side against that side. And that's the first shift that has to happen to remember that your job in Congress, regardless of your party, is to work for your state, for your constituents, and to make life better prosperity and safety. And that that's the job. And so I joke sometimes that the first thing I'll do in Congress is we need a new seating chart. You know, we need to mix things up and not be this aisle. But as the aisle remains, I will be diligent in crossing it for Idaho. You know, it won't matter to me where something comes from, which side or the president, if it's good for Idaho, that should be the first indicator for what side I'm going to fight for.
Gemma Gaudette: You've also talked, um, called for taxing income from investments. More like income from work. And critics do argue that higher capital gains taxes could discourage investment and then, you know, hurt some small businesses. I'm curious about how you respond to that, and where would you draw the line between wealthy investors and just ordinary Idahoans who are saving for retirement?
Ellie Gilbreath: I think that you bring in experts in economics and draw that line where that number is, and you use the best information you can. But the trickledown theory has been around for a really long time, and we see that it does not work. It does not trickle down. We can see the division. The division isn't right versus left. It's top versus bottom. And it's getting wider and wider. And our hard working Idahoans and hard working Idahoans families are feeling the pain. And we don't need a drastic change. You know, we start it's like our farmers, they're the most collaborative, problem solving, smart, hard working bunch I have ever seen. Over these last eight months, I've had the honor to speak to many and be involved in their conversations. And they work together to solve these problems. And they wouldn't take a theory for, um, you know, not watering their land or doing something that someone said was a good idea and see that it was making matters worse and keep doing it and trickle down isn't working. And so, we need to make sure that it's just, again, equanimity, that it's balanced. I like to think of it. We're a potluck state. You come to potluck, you bring a dish, you couldn't make one you help clean up. And our tax structure is not looking like that. The ultra wealthy are have these loopholes that need to be closed. And that's the first step. Not so that they're carrying more than their fair share of the weight, but the so they're carrying their fair share of the weight. And Idahoans, they don't want handouts. They don't want things to you know, it doesn't have to be an equal playing field. But there has to be fairness and equanimity. They're happy to pay their fair share, and I want others to do so as well.
Gemma Gaudette: I want to talk next about health care. You mentioned it earlier. You've called for restoring Medicaid funding and Affordable Care Act subsidies. And you've warned about the threat to rural hospitals. So, what would you do to make sure people in our smaller Idaho communities that they can actually have access to medical care.
Ellie Gilbreath: It's just been the most heartbreaking part of, of this campaigning is these stories that I hear. And, you know, we are a rural state, and I think we often forget that we're a rural country. And so we really need to restore and respect our rural areas and not just have these band aid solutions that, you know, oh, maybe broadband, they can use broadband, healthcare. Well, I was talking to a gal in Arco at the beginning of the summer, and they were having a tiny snowstorm and her internet was out. Um, we can't have people driving 90 miles to get a, a to see their physician. We have the lowest physician to patient rate in America. Our numbers are really challenging and especially for our rural areas, we're always asking more of those people and they sort of accept it because like I said, Idahoans are not complainers. And so, they just get down to it and work harder and kind of take things how it is, and they deserve better. And I think the solution there, We've got our hospitals operating, many of them on a 1% margin. And so, when the Medicaid cuts came in, it really gave those hospitals a bigger challenge. And we've got 8 or 9 hospitals on the verge of closing, um, to make matters worse. And so, I think we really need to focus on getting funds back to those hospitals. And then also there are some great new solutions for community healthcare. There's a group in Pocatello that is doing such good work for community health and those smaller, more centralized healthcare opportunities. And they were just so wonderful. And we can, you know, find new solutions. Um, they're not either or they're and solutions to really help with our health care and especially in the rural areas, but it's not just rural areas. Initially, I was going to put that on the website and I was with a group of people and they said, it's the same in Boise. And I'm sure you experience. It's hard to find a physician. It's hard to get an appointment. Um, it's a challenge and the payments are high.
Gemma Gaudette: I only have a minute or so left with you, and I want to quickly get to immigration if we could, because you've said you support strong border security, but also a legal guest worker program that would help Idaho farmers and dairies. So, can you tell me what that program would look like?
Ellie Gilbreath: Yeah we are. It's another. And it's not an either or. And I think Republicans and Democrats are both guilty of using this issue as a battering ram and haven't really wanted to solve it. There have been many instances where there were bipartisan bills. And, and at the very end, they got torn down. And I think it's because it's convenient and it harms Idaho. It harms our economy. It harms our citizens, harms our businesses. And we are a closed border nation. So absolutely, we need a strong closed border. We are making great progress on that, but we need streamlined visas for our immigrants to be here working legally. Um, and so we can have dignity and respect, and so that our agriculture, dairy and other growers can have a strong workforce. It's the basis of our economy.
Gemma Gaudette: And before I let you go, how do you convince a voter who has maybe voted for Mike Simpson over and over again to give you an opportunity?
Ellie Gilbreath: Yeah, a chance. You know, I love that. And I hear again and again from people, it's time for change. We need term limits. He's out of touch. Um, he did a lot for Idaho and he did. But he hasn't been standing up for us lately. And I think for me, what I say is vote Idaho, vote Idahoan. Um, rather than identity or your political party. And that's what I will do when I'm in Congress is I will vote Idaho every day, every vote, every issue. And so, I'm asking the population to have that same courage.
Gemma Gaudette: Well, I want to thank you so much for taking time to talk with us. We really do appreciate it. We've been speaking with Ellie Gilbreath. She is the Democratic nominee for Idaho's second Congressional District seat. Thanks so much.
Ellie Gilbreath: Okay. Thank you so much.
