The costliest race for the Statehouse is unfolding a few miles west of the Capitol.

Campaign yard signs line the subdivisions and the commercial strips of West Boise’s legislative District 15 — evidence of a Senate race between two experienced candidates with ample money to spend. Incumbent Sen. Rick Just and former state Rep. Codi Galloway have combined to raise more than $244,000, with nearly a month to go before the election. That makes for an uncommonly spendy legislative race; the total fundraising, so far, translates to nearly $5.75 for every resident in the district.

Decidedly purple, District 15 is known for narrow legislative elections. Just, a Democrat, defeated the Republican Galloway by fewer than two percentage points a year ago.

The rematch could be close again. The outcome could have a tangible effect on education issues — especially private school choice, where the two candidates stand in stark contrast.

Just at a glance 

Just opposed the two school choice bills that reached the Senate floor in 2023: a far-reaching education savings accounts bill, which failed; and a proposal to start a private school tuition pilot program, which passed.

Just has several concerns about the myriad school choice proposals that have swirled around the Statehouse.

First, he says, they’re unconstitutional. Idaho’s Blaine Amendment prohibits the use of taxpayer money to support religious schools — and recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have only said that any new program benefiting secular private schools must also be open to religious schools.

Second, he says, Idaho can’t afford it. In other states, school choice pilots have proliferated. Even a pilot could cut into Idaho’s K-12 spending, which ranks at or near the bottom of national per-pupil rankings. “We don’t need to jeopardize that, even a little bit.”

Just supported House Bill 521, the groundbreaking and complicated school facilities law that passed earlier this year. But he still thinks the state needs to reduce the two-thirds supermajority threshold for school bond issues.

Just supports Idaho Launch, a fledgling grant program to help high school graduates go to college or pursue job training. He says the state needs to keep the program intact “for five or six years, at least” to gauge its effectiveness.

Just sits on the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, but he says he generally defers on education issues to the committee’s other Senate Democrat, Janie Ward-Engelking, a retired teacher. If re-elected, Just says he would like to continue on JFAC.

At this point, Just enjoys a fundraising advantage.

He has collected more than $138,000 for his re-election campaign. His donors include a who’s who of Idaho Democrats — including former gubernatorial candidate and Boise school trustee A J Balukoff; his wife, Susie Balukoff; Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, both of Boise. Just has also received $500 from the Idaho Education Association’s political action committee and $50 from former state superintendent Jerry Evans, a Republican.

But Just’s fundraising is offset, somewhat, by a third-party group pushing for school choice.

On Sept. 20, the Idaho Federation for Children PAC reported spending $36,400 on anti-Just ads. This is a familiar PAC in Idaho politics, and often a successful one. The PAC spent more than $150,000 targeting two school choice opponents who lost in the May Republican primary: Reps. Melissa Durrant and Kenny Wroten.

Just acknowledges the Idaho Federation for Children PAC has had a role in ousting moderate Republicans, but he decries the group’s negative messaging. “I wish they’d just come out and say, ‘Look, we’re for vouchers, or whatever you’re calling them this week, and Sen. Just is not, so you should vote for his opponent.'”

Galloway at a glance

While Just may be forced to play defense on school choice, Galloway is carving out a pro-school choice position.

“As a mother of four and a former public school teacher, I know every kid is different,” she told the Idaho Capital Sun. “There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to education.”

“Right now we have such a challenge with inflation and housing costs, that if there’s any way that we can lighten the load for those families of young children, school-aged kids, then I’m going to be supportive of finding ways to support them in that,” she told Laura Guido of the Idaho Press.

Galloway declined EdNews’ interview request, saying she had no time to talk before the election. She also declined to complete an EdNews candidate survey.

On her campaign website, Galloway touts her education background. She says she started her career more than 20 years ago as a public elementary school teacher, later opening a career-technical education school for adults. She now runs a commercial furniture company with her husband.

Galloway also describes herself as a “Reagan Republican” who is committed to tax relief.

She hailed HB 521, the facilities law, saying it checked off two big priorities for her: It reduced income tax rates while improving local schools.

On her campaign website, Galloway criticizes Just over an omnibus 2023 law designed to offset some of the local costs for school bond issues and levies. “My opponent voted against lowering your property tax,” wrote Galloway. That’s partly true, but not entirely. Just voted for the bill at first, but voted against a Senate override of Gov. Brad Little’s veto of the bill (The override succeeded and the bill became law.)

Galloway also criticized Just’s votes on social issues. She cited a 2023 law preventing transgender students from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, and a 2024 law banning schools from requiring the use of a child’s preferred pronouns. Just opposed both.

In the Statehouse and on the election trail, Galloway has aligned herself with the Legislature’s conservative wing. Elected to the House in 2020, Galloway ousted a moderate incumbent, Sen. Fred Martin, in the May 2022 Republican primary. This win set the stage for the first Just-Galloway election.

Galloway has raised more than $106,000 in hopes of returning to the Senate, including a $20,000 loan she made to her campaign. Her big-dollar backers include the state’s preeminent anti-abortion group, Idaho Chooses Life; Melaleuca, an Idaho Falls-based company that generally supports Republicans; Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot and his wife, Belinda; and Larry and Marianne Williams, a prominent Boise couple that frequently supports conservative and hardline candidates.

What’s so special about this race?

There’s a reason why Idaho political observers are paying special attention to the District 15 Senate race. Several, in fact.

A true swing district. There aren’t many of them in Idaho. Only three of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts have a split delegation of Republicans and Democrats. District 15 is one of them.

The Treasure Valley’s battleground. West Boise’s District 15 is a dividing line. To the west, Republicans dominate districts in suburban Ada County and Canyon County. To the east, four Boise-based districts are the Democrats’ power base. As both parties look to expand their footprint in a growing Treasure Valley, all roads run through 15.

A razor-thin race in 2022. All three of District 15’s legislative elections were close two years ago, but the Just-Galloway race was the tightest of the bunch. Just won by 327 votes — and with 49.8% of the vote, Just won with a plurality but not a majority. And Sarah Clendenon, a Constitution Party candidate, likely drew most of her 413 votes from conservatives who might have otherwise backed Galloway. This time around, it’s Just vs. Galloway with no third-party candidate.

The implications for education. For two years, Idaho Launch has survived a series of close Senate floor votes. When the Senate passed the private school tuition pilot bill in 2023, the vote was again close, a 19-15 margin. The Senate will still be overwhelmingly Republican next session — but when it comes to hot-button education issues, every vote counts.

The implications for the Senate. And behind the closed doors of the Senate Republican caucus, every vote counts too. The caucus will pick Senate leadership — namely a replacement to ousted Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder — and the group appears to be closely split between moderates and hardline conservatives. Galloway could be a key vote in leadership races. So much so that Sen. C. Scott Grow of Eagle, an announced candidate for pro tem, kicked a maximum $1,000 donation into Galloway’s war chest last week; Sen. Lori Den Hartog, a Meridian Republican who ran against Winder in the 2022 pro tem’s race, also gave $1,000 to Galloway last month.

It all adds up to one thing: If you can only pay attention to one legislative election on Nov. 5, start here.

Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics. Look for his stories each Thursday.

Disclosure: The Idaho Land Fund has contributed to Codi Galloway’s Senate campaign. J.B. Scott — the founding chairman of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, which funds Idaho Education News — is affiliated with the Idaho Land Fund.