Rognstad, Heidt up for Idaho Democratic gov. pick

Infighting within the Republican ranks has garnered much of the attention during the 2022 election cycle, but Idaho Democrats can’t escape some bad optics of their own.

Besides failing to field candidates in 59 of 105 state legislative races, the party has to contend with a gubernatorial primary that pits one Democrat who registered to vote as a Republican against another Democrat who ran for office as a Republican.

Of the two, Marsing educator Stephen Heidt — who ran for Congress as a Republican in Utah more than 30 years ago — is the only candidate whose name will appear on Tuesday’s Democratic primary ballot.

However, Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad is waging a spirited write-in campaign, hoping to pull off a stunning upset and advance to the Nov. 8 general election as the party’s gubernatorial nominee.

The 47-year-old Lewiston native was in Moscow this week meeting with supporters.

In an interview with the Lewiston Tribune, Rognstad acknowledged experiencing some “friction” with his fellow Democrats the past several weeks because of his missteps in filing for office.

He initially planned to run for governor as a Democrat, but waited until the March 11 filing deadline to submit his paperwork. He was disqualified because at the time he was registered to vote as a Republican.

“It took about six weeks to turn things around and dig out of that hole,” Rognstad said. “It feels like just now we’ve built enough momentum to overcome that deficit.”

If he and his team are successful in pulling off a write-in victory, he said, “I think it will catapult us forward for the general election.”

Rognstad has previously explained that he registered to vote as a Republican because that’s often the only way voters in Bonner County have a say over who represents them. He takes great umbrage to anyone who suggests he’s not a “real” Democrat.

“I’m the only candidate (in the primary) who has been vetted multiple times in elections,” he said. “I’m the only one who’s standing up for women’s rights against extremists. You can Google me and see where I stand on multiple issues. They have no grounds to say I’m not a Democrat, not when I stand up for Democratic values and he (Heidt) hides in the shadows.”

Rognstad noted Heidt declined to take part in candidate debates proposed by the Idaho Democratic Party and Idaho Women for Biden/Harris. He also declined an interview request from the Lewiston Tribune, although he did reply to questions by email.

“He has remained silent on every issue,” Rognstad said. “I feel like he’s getting a free ride.”

In his written response to the Tribune, Heidt, 61, acknowledged running for Congress as a Republican in 1986, as he was finishing his political science degree from BYU Provo.

He also ran against Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch in the 1994 Republican primary “because I so tremendously disliked his politics.”

In a 1994 Deseret News story, Heidt is quoted as criticizing Hatch for being too liberal.

“What he’s been doing this past year looks more like a Democrat to me,” he said.

In his email response, Heidt indicated his political views have changed over time.

“I became an unaffiliated voter in the ’90s,” he wrote. “Several years ago, I affiliated with the Democratic Party because they are most in line with my values. The party fights for everyday Idahoans, as well as (for) fully funded education, fair taxation, workers’ rights, fair housing and equal protection under the law.”

Heidt has worked as a teacher and educator for more than 30 years, including more than a decade teaching English as a second language to inmates in Idaho’s prison system. He cited education and criminal justice reform as two of his top issues.

“Higher education is the unchallenged best indicator for lower prison populations,” Heidt wrote. “Idaho is dead last of the 50 states for funding K-12 education. Idaho is also one of the top states in the nation for incarceration (rates).”

Regarding his stance on abortion, Heidt said he supports it “in certain circumstances.”

“All life is precious,” he said. “Abortion is a complex decision that needs to be made in privacy by the woman and her doctor. The government should be doing whatever is necessary to make life the most attractive choice.”

Heidt also noted that there’s a monument in Bannock County to his great-grandmother, who served as a midwife and “delivered over 300 babies to the pioneer women of the 19th century, without losing a single one.”

Like Heidt, Rognstad is a fourth-generation Idahoan. His great-grandfather opened Rognstad Insurance in Lewiston. Before serving as mayor of Sandpoint, he was a small business owner himself, running a bookstore, restaurant and music venue.

Pushing back against the extremism he sees in Idaho’s Republican-dominated Legislature has been a central theme of Rognstad’s candidacy.

Nothing illustrates that extremism so well, he said, as Senate Bill 1309, which allows a woman’s family members to sue abortion providers up to four years after the abortion is performed or attempted, and provides for minimum damages of $20,000.

“It gives a rapist’s family more rights than the woman,” Rognstad said. “It goes far beyond what’s reasonable or balanced — and now Republicans want to make contraception illegal. They’re inserting themselves into the bedroom and taking away a woman and her partner’s right to make decisions for themselves.”

In order to prevail as a write-in candidate, Rognstad needs to get at least 1,000 write-in votes, and more total votes than Heidt.

To achieve that goal, he said, his campaign is focusing its message on Democratic voters who are highly likely to vote in Tuesday’s primary.

“That’s a universe of about 57,000 voters,” he said. “We’re trying to get the word out through text message, robo-calls, digital and print media. And we’ll be doing a lot of door-to-door campaigning this weekend.”

In his April campaign finance report, Rognstad reported raising more than $175,000 so far, with expenditures of about $121,000.

Heidt, by contrast, reported total contributions of $765.58, with expenditures of $304.84.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.