I am clear-eyed about the limits of the office I seek. The Lieutenant Governor does not write federal healthcare law. But the Lieutenant Governor presides over the Idaho Senate, breaks ties, shapes agendas, and—most importantly—uses the power of the platform to force truth into the open. And when the truth is uncomfortable, that’s exactly when leadership is required.
As Lieutenant Governor, I will fight to protect Medicaid expansion because the consequences of losing it are not abstract—they are immediate, human, and devastating. I will fight because rural Idaho will pay first and pay hardest. I will fight because ideology is cheap, but hospital closures are not. I will fight because voters already decided this issue, and it is not the Legislature’s job to quietly undo the will of the people.
People without health insurance do not disappear. They get sick. They have heart attacks. They have strokes. They develop cancer. And when they do, they show up at emergency rooms because that is the only door still open to them. When Medicaid expansion is stripped away, the bill doesn’t vanish. It gets dumped on rural hospitals running on fumes, on healthcare workers already stretched to the breaking point, and on communities that can’t afford to lose one more lifeline.
Let’s be clear about what repeal actually means. Idaho eliminated its old indigent care system when Medicaid expansion began. There is no backup plan. No safety net beneath the floorboards. Ending expansion would rip coverage away from tens of thousands of Idahoans and recreate a coverage gap that leaves people too poor to afford insurance but not poor enough to qualify for help. That is not reform. That is abandonment.
And in a state with 44 counties spread across more than 83,000 square miles, abandonment comes with distance. Longer drives. Slower response times. Closed emergency rooms. Families praying they make it in time. Ask yourself a simple question: how far should an Idahoan have to drive to survive?
This fight is not just moral, it is economic. Medicaid expansion brings nine federal dollars back for every one Idaho invests. It fuels our healthcare workforce. It supports behavioral health services. It keeps maternity wards open and mothers covered in the most vulnerable year of their lives. It generates jobs, stabilizes communities, and strengthens our economy. No serious business would rip a billion dollars out of its own infrastructure and call it “responsible.” Idaho should not either.
I will work with legislators—Republicans and Democrats—who understand that fiscal responsibility and human dignity are not enemies. I will call out attempts to quietly dismantle a program voters approved by a wide margin. And I will refuse to let Idaho drift backward to a system hospitals cannot afford and families cannot survive.
This is not left versus right. It is forward versus backward. It is whether we govern with courage or hide behind talking points and petite ideology. Whether we protect what works or sacrifice real people to ideological purity tests.
Medicaid expansion keeps hospitals open. It keeps workers employed. It keeps families from falling through the cracks. It keeps our community SAFE! As Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, I will fight for it loudly, consistently, and without apology because when Idaho takes care of its people, Idaho is stronger. And I am not running to be quiet about that!