Kootenai County, NIC candidates file for Nov. 3 election
KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 2 weeks AGO
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | August 29, 2026 1:00 AM
The deadline to file for the Nov. 3 general election has passed.
The following candidates are running for positions in Kootenai County government or on the North Idaho College board of trustees, as of 5 p.m. Friday.
Two of the five seats on NIC's nonpartisan board of trustees are up for election in November. Incumbents Tarie Zimmerman and Brad Corkill, both elected in 2022, will run unopposed.
In all six county races, Republican candidates will run unopposed.
Commissioner Bruce Mattare, Clerk Jennifer Locke and Coroner Duke Johnson will all retain their positions.
In Commissioner District 1, Julie Hensley will replace two-time commissioner Marc Eberlein, who did not run for reelection. After longtime Kootenai County Treasurer Steve Matheson announced that he wouldn't seek another term, Carlos Zamora will run unopposed for the position.
Allyson Knapp will run unopposed for Kootenai County Assessor. Though she soundly defeated incumbent Béla Kovacs in the Republican primary election, Kovacs filed a lawsuit that sought to keep Knapp's name off the November ballot, alleging that Knapp isn't a Kootenai County resident.
Knapp has refuted the allegation. Last week, the Idaho Board of Tax Appeals affirmed that county commissioners were correct when they restored Knapp's homestead exemption last year after Kovacs revoked it and that Knapp "took every reasonable step" to establish her Rathdrum property as her domicile in 2022.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit last week, ruling that Kovacs filed his complaint too late. The decision leaves open the possibility that Kovacs will challenge the general election results.
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