McCann faces two Republican challengers

Two-term House Rep. Lori McCann will face two challengers who are seeking their first roles in elected office in the May primary.

Both men looking to oust the incumbent are involved with the county central committee that had voted to censure McCann in 2023 over her voting record regarding topics including libraries, absentee voting and property taxes.

Colton Bennett is a former Army combat medic and now a medical assistant at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, as well as first vice chairperson of the Latah County Republican Central Committee. In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran for the Latah County Library Board.

Dave Dalby is a retired Marine lieutenant and a member of the Latah County Central Committee.

McCann, 63, said she’s running for reelection because she wants to continue her work in supporting public education.

“We’ve done some good things, but we’ve still got more work to do in the areas of teacher pay and in areas around the facilities,” McCann said.

She also wants to continue efforts to support agriculture and relieve property taxes.

Bennett, who turns 25 on Tuesday, said when he announced his candidacy in October he was running to “bring a fresh conservative perspective.”

Dalby did not respond to requests for an interview.

Bennett said his priorities are reducing property taxes, protecting dams in Idaho, advancing anti-abortion policies and pushing against federal overreach.

Federal funds make up 40% of state budget appropriations.

“This is an incredibly precarious situation to be in as a state, because we are dependent on our broke Uncle Sam for half of our state’s budgetary needs,” Bennett said.

He said he’d look at denying federal money for programs that he believes Idaho would otherwise not be interested in. He gave the example of expanding Medicaid programs. Bennett said he wasn’t asking to cut Medicaid, but would advocate for “fiscal restraint.”

Medicaid’s budget has been a major topic of debate for several years as the budget for it has increased overall. Lawmakers met over the last interim to look into ways to use a managed care model to contain costs, but the committee largely couldn’t agree on the best path forward. Medicaid expansion, with broadened eligibility, was approved by voters via a ballot initiative in 2018.

If reelected, McCann said she wants to build on recent efforts to boost funding for literacy to also try and improve math achievement in schools. She also wants to continue to support public schools and public charter school funding amid some proposals that may route some state funds to private institutions.

“I am a school choice proponent, but within the public arena,” she said.

McCann, who served as vice chairperson of the House Education Committee, had been among a group of Republicans who opposed recent proposals to allow state funds to go toward private school tuition. McCann had been an educator at Lewis-Clark State College for 15 years.

She highlighted the recent overhaul of the state charter school laws passed this session.

Her other priorities are reforming the state’s liquor license laws and providing funding for large veterinarian school students to have seats at out-of-state vet schools; Idaho doesn’t have a vet school.

She underscored the passage of her concurrent resolution to authorize the State Board of Education to begin preliminary talks with the University of Utah to create an agreement for Idaho students to participate in its veterinary program.

She said the state is lacking large animal vets, and this is a need for animal producers in Idaho. McCann and her husband run a cattle ranch.

She said Idaho’s liquor license regulations have undergone some changes over recent years, but communities like Lewiston and Moscow aren’t growing as quickly as Treasure Valley cities and, as a result of restrictions, haven’t been able to get new liquor licenses in decades.

“We have to follow the temperance laws that we have under our constitution, so we don’t want it to be too easy, but also need to find that balance so that we can continue to grow,” McCann said.

Dalby on his campaign website lists his priorities as ensuring parents have a voice in public education, property tax reform and small government.

Bennett said he’s firmly against abortion but supported an exemption to save the life of the mother. Asked about an exemption for the health of the mother, Bennett said the U.S. Supreme Court case regarding the state’s ban in emergency situations will have to determine if the current statute provides adequate protections. The Department of Justice is arguing it violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.

McCann said she also is anti-abortion, but is supportive of providing a clear exemption to protect the health and future fertility of the mother. She said she’s met with medical health professionals who are concerned about the current laws.

She said she had worked with groups to try and get a proposal introduced in the Legislature but were unable to this year. She said she intends to bring something back next session.

“I think women’s health is an area that Republicans tend to not want to talk about,” McCann said. “It’s one that I think it’s so critical that we’ve got to talk about it, so that we can get these doctors to stay and feel comfortable treating their patients.”

Bennett and McCann both highlighted property tax reform as priorities.

Bennett said he would support allowing county commissioners to set their county’s cap on the assessed value for the homeowner’s exemption on property taxes. Statewide, Idahoans can exempt up to $125,000 of assessed value of their primary residence. He also would support freezing property tax rates when seniors retire.

“I believe that we’re slowly losing the homeowner’s exemption,” he said. “It’s being eroded by the rising cost of home values.”

McCann said she supported the recent property tax relief efforts, such as HB 292 in 2023 and HB 521 this year, that take steps toward reducing the burden on homeowners. But she said more work needs to be done to restructure property taxes.

She supports the state relieving burdens from local governments, which are the ones that set and collect property taxes, so that they don’t need to pass bonds and levies to pay; for instance, HB 292 and HB 521 use sales tax dollars that can go to school districts to support bonds and levies.

Bennett said voters should select him as a “true conservative” and highlighted his background in health care. He said he’s running to keep the oath he took in the Army to defend the Constitution.

“And I meant every word of it, and I intend to keep that oath,” he said.

McCann said that as a resident of the district for over 50 years, she understands it well. Her experience in education, business and agriculture serve her well in the position.

Bennett has raised a total of $13,187 as of Friday, and McCann has earned $28,675. Dalby has raised $3,500 as well as $2,000 from himself.

The winner of the Republican primary contest for House seat 6A will face Democrat Trish Carter-Goodheart in the general election.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X @EyeOnBoiseGuido.