A few highlights from Day Four of the 2020 candidate filing period:

• Rep. Ryan Kerby, R-New Plymouth, will seek a fourth House term. The House Education Committee vice chairman and retired school superintendent already has a Republican primary opponent: Jim Smith of Fruitland.
• Sen. Carl Crabtree, R-Grangeville, will seek a third term. He sits on the Senate Education Committee and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
• Former state Rep. Ron Nate, a Rexburg Republican, filed paperwork for another House run. He will challenge Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, a first-term lawmaker who sits on JFAC.
• House Majority Caucus Chair Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, will seek a third term.
• Boise Republican Hilary Lee will challenge Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, a Senate Education and JFAC member.

The filing period runs through Friday, March 13. Check this blog every day for updates.

March 4 filings highlights

• Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, filed to seek an eighth legislative term. He’s vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and with Chairman Dean Mortimer retiring, Thayn could be in line to head the committee if he’s re-elected. Thayn will face at least one opponent: Marla Lawson, a Lowman Republican. Thayn defeated Lawson in the 2018 GOP primary.
• Several lawmakers who already chair powerful committees are running again: Senate State Affairs Committee Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Caldwell; House State Affairs Committee Chairman Steven Harris, R-Meridian; and Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee co-chair Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa.
• Several prominent legislative leaders are also seeking re-election: House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star; House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise; and Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum.
• In other education committee news, House Education Committee member Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, will seek re-election, as will Senate Education member Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls.

March 3 filings highlights

• The race to replace Senate Education Committee Chairman Dean Mortimer is getting crowded. Former state Rep. Jeff Thompson, an Idaho Falls Republican, filed to run for Mortimer’s Senate seat. Two other Republicans, Adam Frugoli and Kevin Cook, have announced their plans to run, but have not formally filed paperwork.
• Also in Idaho Falls’ legislative District 30, Rep. Wendy Horman has filed to run for a fifth term. She is a vice chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, playing an instrumental role in writing K-12 budget bills.
• Three members of the Senate Education Committee have filed their paperwork to run again: Sens. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian; Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise; Chuck Winder, R-Boise. All three senators have worked on the legislative committee trying to rewrite Idaho’s school funding formula. Ward-Engelking also sits on JFAC.
• Four more House Education Committee members have filed for re-election: Reps. Gayann DeMordaunt, R-Eagle; Gary Marshall, R-Idaho Falls; Jerald Raymond, R-Menan; and Tony Wisniewski, R-Post Falls. Counting Monday’s filings, eight of the 15 members of House Education have already filed for re-election.
• Middleton school trustee Kirk Adams filed to run for a House seat in Canyon County’s District 11. Adams, a Republican, will challenge first-term Rep. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton.

March 2 filings highlights

• House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, filed for an 11th term.
• House Education Committee Chairman Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, filed for a fifth term. He’s among four House Education members who filed paperwork Monday. Reps. Steve Berch, D-Boise; Ron Mendive, R-Coeur d’Alene; and Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, also filed for re-election.
• Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, will seek an eighth term.

Meanwhile, two veteran House members said they won’t seek re-election: Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Gary Collins and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Robert Anderst, R-Nampa, will step aside at year’s end, Betsy Russell of the Idaho Press reported Monday.