Idaho House and Senate Leadership Elected (updated 12/11/24)
Idaho Dispatch reported Idaho House and Senate leadership selections for the 2025 and 2026 Idaho legislative sessions. The 2025 Idaho legislative session begins in January.
Announcements for committee assignments, such as chairmanships and vice chairmanships, are expected later this week.
NOTE: We do not know what happened behind the scenes during the secret selection process.
Rankings
We’ve included two organizations’ rankings for each leadership position; these organizations often reflect polar opposite rankings:
Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) 2023 percentage and letter rankings for Education, Freedom, and Spending (2023 is latest available for all indexes):
Mission Statement: Defeat Marxism and socialism by building a culture of liberty around America's founding principles so Idahoans can prosper.
Rankings lookup: index.idahofreedom.org
Rankings metrics: idahofreedom.org/metrics
Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry (IACI) numeric rankings (0-100 scale, latest available):
Mission Statement: Idaho’s most effective business lobby.
Rankings lookup: scorecard.iaci.org
Rankings metrics: Vote in line with IACI position = +1 point; Vote out of line with IACI position = -1 point; Bills IACI is monitoring or maintains a neutral position = 0 points
Idaho House Leadership Selections:
Rep. Mike Moyle (R-Star, second term as speaker) – Speaker
IFF Education 95.3 A | Freedom 75.9% C | Spending 28.0% F
IACI 46
Rep. Jason Monks (R-Meridian) – Majority Leader
IFF Education 100.0% A+| Freedom 77.4% C+ | Spending 54.1% F
IACI 39
Rep. Josh Tanner (R-Eagle; 89.9% B+) – Assistant Majority Leader
IFF Education 100.0% A+ | Freedom 88.7% B+ | Spending 87.9% B+
IACI 42
Rep. Jaron Crane (R-Nampa) – Caucus Chair
IFF Education 90.7% A- | Freedom 76.7% C+ | Spending 75.8% C
IACI 39
Idaho Senate Leadership Selections:
Sen. Kelly Anthon (R-Burley) – President Pro Tempore
IFF Education 64.8% D | Freedom 48.8% F | Spending 9.8% F
IACI 85
Sen. Lori Den Hartog (R – Meridian) – Majority Leader
IFF Education 81.5% B- | Freedom 52.4% F | Spending 23.8% F
IACI 62
Sen. Mark Harris (R – Soda Springs) – Assistant Majority Leader
IFF Education 64.8% D | Freedom 46.0% F | Spending 10.4% F
IACI 92
Sen. Ben Toews (R – Coeur d’Alene) – Caucus Chair
IFF Education 92.6% A- | Freedom 85.9% B | Spending 87.5% B+
IACI 39
Committee Leaders
Based on report from Brian Almon (Gem State Substack, linked below):
JFAC, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee
Co-Chair Sen. C. Scott Grow advocates that JFAC committee members will not also serve in leadership roles.
JFAC Vice Chair: Sen. Jim Woodward
New member: Glenneda Zuiderveld
Official Idaho Legislature Committees
House: legislature.idaho.gov/c…
Senate: legislature.idaho.gov/c…
House Committee Leadership (key changes)
House Education Chair: Rep. Douglas Pickett
House Education Vice Chair: Rep. Dale Hawkins
Senate Committee Leadership (key changes)
Agricultural Affairs Chair: Tammy Nichols
Commerce & Human Resources Chair: Sen. Dan Foreman
Education: Committee is more “moderate” than “conservative” this year
State Affairs: Sen. Jim Guthrie (killed bills in his drawer last year)
Commerce & Human Resources Vice Chair: Sen. Brian Lenney
Health & Welfare Chair: Sen. Carl Bjerke
Judiciary & Rules Vice Chair: Sen. Brandon Shippy
Transportation Vice Chair: Sen. Josh Keyser
Related:
If Voters Demanded a Conservative Mandate, Idaho’s Senate Didn’t Get the Memo. By Fred Birnbaum (12/09/24): idahofreedom.org/if-vot…
Idaho Dispatch Articles. By Greg Pruett (12/04/24):
Breaking: Mike Moyle Re-Elected as Idaho Speaker of the House: idahodispatch.com/break…
Sen. Kelly Anthon Elected as Idaho Senate Pro Tem: idahodispatch.com/sen-k…
Gem State Substack. The New Legislature. Leaders and committees have been set. Now what? By Brian Almon (12/06/24):
