COEUR d’ALENE — Raul Labrador answered a host of questions — many on controversial topics — during a town hall meeting Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene.

Nearly 100 people gathered at Candlelight Christian Fellowship to listen to Labrador, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. representative in Idaho’s 1st congressional district since 2011.

“Today is very special because we’re going to talk about what makes our nation great, which is our Judeo-Christian traditions, and I want to make sure that we as a state protect those traditions and the things that I think our Founding Fathers created this nation for,” Labrador said.

Labrador, 49, responded to multiple questions including queries about reducing wildfires, his stance on Agenda 21 (a voluntary, non-binding action plan for sustainable development that emerged from the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro), wolves, same-sex marriage, whether he would help build up the film industry in the state, what he would do to keep Idaho from becoming progressive “especially with the influx of Californians,” how Christians can promote better government, how as governor he will support President Donald Trump, and his stances on abortion, refugees and immigration.

States should manage their lands, he said, not the federal government. States do a better job of caring for forests, managing vegetation and brush that creates fires, while keeping the land productive, he said.

“We need to make sure that we do whatever we can to stop the encroachment of federal agencies, federal government and any international communities that might be interested in telling us how we should live our lives,” Labrador said when asked for his thoughts on Agenda 21.

He supports Idaho’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, and it should be protected, he said. Labrador voted for Idaho’s amendment while a state legislator in 2006. The state-level ban on same-sex marriages was later ruled unconstitutional in federal court, and that ruling was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Labrador said he supports wolf hunts in the state.

Regarding attracting the film industry to Idaho, he said “the market” should do that.

“I will never try to incentivize a specific business,” he said, but he would work to create an economic climate friendly to all businesses.

On keeping Idaho from becoming progressive, Labrador said he has found the majority of people coming from other states are conservatives who are moving to Idaho for “the right reasons,” because of Idaho’s conservative values. Idaho has become more conservative since people from California began moving here, he said.

“I welcome all people to come to Idaho that want to keep it conservative, want to keep it a great state,” Labrador said.

He encouraged Christians to get involved in politics at the state and local levels.

When asked what bills he would pass to support President Donald Trump, Labrador said he is the only candidate in Idaho’s gubernatorial election who worked to ensure Trump would be elected.

He said he spent two weeks traveling and campaigning for Trump in several states, after meeting with Trump about five months before the election.

“This was at a time when some audios came out that really were not the best audios out there,” Labrador said, referencing the leaked “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump is heard saying he “grabs” women in a sexual way.

He said that during that time, while other Republicans were moving away from Trump, he focused on the fact that Trump would be making decisions about Supreme Court justices.

“I said ‘Yeah, there are some things I don’t like about what he said and what he has done, but there is a big difference between the two candidates. One is going to give me the Supreme Court that I want. The other is not.’”

He said he is pro-life and as governor will work to end abortion in the state, but that it must be done with small legal victories that will withstand a court challenge.

Labrador said he’s against mandatory vaccinations for children. He wants to remove the Common Core standards from Idaho education. He supports building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and is pro- legal immigration and thinks the immigration system needs to be modernized.

“We don’t need to be bringing families to the United States. We need to identify the skills we need to make America stronger,” Labrador said and noted this is in line with Trump’s position on immigration.

Following the meeting, Candlelight’s Pastor Paul Van Noy said the town hall was set up after people involved with Labrador’s campaign asked him if they could hold a gathering there.

“We are very welcoming to the community. We want to serve our community and the state,” Van Noy said. “We’ve done this many times for all kinds of different things.”

Under the IRS rules, a church cannot campaign for a specific candidate, Van Noy said.

“But we are certainly allowed to give communications and allow people to make their own decisions when they vote,” he said.

Van Noy noted that in the past, the church hosted a candidate forum and every candidate seeking election was invited to attend.

Labrador’s main opponents for the Republican nomination for Idaho governor are Boise-area businessman Tommy Ahlquist and Brad Little, who serves as lieutenant governor under Gov. Butch Otter. Otter is not seeking re-election. The Republican primary election will be held in May.