TWIN FALLS, Idaho — With a little over a month until the May 19 primary, incumbent Senator Josh Kohl and challenger Casey Swensen are competing for the Republican nomination in Idaho State Senate District 25.
Kohl is finishing his first term as an Idaho state legislator and hopes to head back to the Statehouse for a second two-year term.
He rose to the office after a primary victory in 2024 over then-Senator Linda Wright Hartgen, capturing over 60% of the almost 5,000 Republican primary votes cast. He did not face a general election challenge.
WATCH: Hear from the candidates in the District 25 race
"The reason I got involved in politics in the first place was because I noticed that the establishment candidates would say the right things here in Twin Falls, they would run as conservatives," Kohl said.
"But then when they got to Boise, the votes reflected something different, and they ended up voting much more in line with a liberal establishment or the corporate lobbyists," Kohl said.
This time around, Swensen is challenging Kohl for the District 25 GOP nomination. Swensen grew up in Twin Falls, working at the family business, Swensen's Market. He went on to study law, served as a prosecutor, and then worked as a small business owner of a pest company in the Midwest before returning to Twin Falls to raise his kids around family.
"We need effective leadership in the legislature, so based on my experience as a prosecutor, a small business owner, and then understanding community as a whole, I'll be able to solve the problems that are unique to the Magic Valley," Swensen said.
"As a small business owner, I saw firsthand how government regulations can really thwart your ability to grow, to hire new people, to reinvest in the community, so we need to be addressing those regulations and the tax code to make sure our small businesses can grow," Swensen said.
Swensen said some of Kohl's votes don't represent the region's agricultural interests, like a vote against a $30 million infrastructure fund.
Neighborhood Reporter Lorien Nettleton asked Kohl to explain Swensen's claims.
"Yeah, well, the reality is I voted for over $80 million in water infrastructure," Kohl said.
"What I voted against was essentially a $30 million slush fund that goes on in perpetuity, but when you got down in the guts of that bill, there wasn't a lot of guardrails to protect Idaho's tax dollars," Kohl said.
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