BOISE -- Democrats were outspoken about this year's Idaho primary election.
Tuesday night at the Democratic headquarters in Boise left-leaning candidates spoke frankly about how Idaho republicans chose to close the primary election and how it negatively affected voter turnout.
“We have some wonderful people coming into the legislature right now and that excites me and I think it’s really important,” said the candidate for US Congress in District 2, Nicole LeFavour.
After defeating her opponent Jack Chappell with over 80 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s election, LeFavour will now go head to head against Idaho’s current Congressman Mike Simpson in November.
She told KTVB Tuesday evening she wants to ensure that care for seniors is not lost in the budgeting process and also wants to fight for education funding - something she feels has not happened with current leadership.
“It’s very important to see that if over too much time that Washington take a person away from the state and being present here is really important in the state, and I have been here for eight years working hard in the legislature standing up for people and I will continue to do that,” said LeFavour.
LeFavour was yet another Democrat who expressed disappointment with the open record policy and the closed Republican primary inflicted on voters.
“That stuff is supposed to be private and secret. I don’t know why the Republican party decided they needed to mess with everybody's voting,” said LeFavour.
Tuesday night, the Democratic headquarters was packed with young faces; something Larry Grant, the Chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party, says is a promising thing.
“It was part of our program to keep the Democratic party more young, add more of a presence in Idaho,” said Grant.
Grant said this year they have seen more young people getting interested in politics than ever before. He believes it’s a direct reflection of how some Idaho residents are getting fed up with the current leadership on both a state and federal level.
“Idaho is a great place to live, and all we need is a little more balance between the political parties so we get better decisions. What we saw in the legislature this time around was not good. You know the ethics issues the ultra sound bill, the lack of jobs those kinds of things. They're just not showing the leadership,” said Grant.
