Republicans have held onto their seats for yet another election cycle in the region, including the highly contested state race for House representative between Heather Scott and Gail Bolin, and the District 1 Senate race between Jim Woodward and Vera Gadman.

Scott, who won with 14,911 votes, or 65.3% of the vote, wrote in an email Wednesday that she was “relieved” to be done with campaigning.

She said the statewide results were close to what she expected, however, there had been some uncertainty with the influx of new voters moving from other states.

“My plans moving forward are to meet the new members of the Legislature and prepare for the upcoming re-organization meeting,” she wrote. “Idaho really needs to address high property taxes this year. We also need to address the governor’s emergency controls and balance that with legislative oversight.”

Woodward, who won with 17,192 votes, or 75.22%, could not be reached in time for the newspaper’s deadline.

In a 2020 election questionnaire Woodward returned to the Bee in September, he wrote that he wanted to spend less time focusing on ideological differences and more on bipartisan issues laid out in the state constitution.

“K-12 education, our transportation system, and prudent spending of our tax dollars remain at the top of my priorities,” Woodward wrote.

Woodward also wrote that population growth and its effects on schools, transportation and taxes were a significant concern for him.

“I am working as a member of an interim legislative committee to curb the growth of property taxes,” he wrote. “Providing a stable funding mechanism for our schools will remain a high priority for me.”