SANDPOINT — Army veteran Chuck Lowman declared his intent to challenge Cornel Rasor for the District 1B seat in the Idaho House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

Lowman said there were two main factors behind his decision to run for the seat for the second election in a row. The first of which was a desire to serve the state’s northernmost district; he said he believes his voice can bring people together, rather than divide.  

“Bring a voice that can kind of bridge the gap between folks, and I don't necessarily see that in my opponent,” Lowman said. "They're committed to their way of doing things, but there's significant voices in our community that are saying, ‘Stop, wait, we have concerns,” and I don’t know that those concerns are being heard.” 

He said the second reason was the community support that pushed him to challenge Rasor. In the 2024 Republican primary, Lowman garnered 48% of the vote, but lost to Rasor, who totaled the majority of votes. 

Lowman said the biggest issue facing the state is finding a responsible level of state government. He criticized the current sweeping blanket cuts to state agencies, which he said accomplishes nothing other than making the state government less effective. 

“We need to look hard at what we're asking our government to do. If we don't want our government to do that, then we need to rescind those laws,” Lowman said. "Not just put it on the executive that, ‘We're not going to approve this budget’ and essentially make our government workers suffer for those decisions.” 

Lowman additionally expressed concern about how the cuts at the state and federal level would affect the region’s roads. He said with Idaho’s ever-increasing population, those projects, like highway improvements around Cocolalla, should be a top priority for the state. 

He advocated local option taxes as a way for counties and cities to fund desperately needed projects, like Boundary County’s jail, without increasing property taxes.  

“We have more people in the state of Idaho than we've ever had, and we continue to get people coming into our communities, creating a demand on our roadways,” Lowman said. "We're cutting the budgets on that and so, to me, that's definitely a failure in governance.” 

As a current substitute teacher for the Lake Pend Oreille School District, Lowman said support for public education is crucial. He referred to the school district system as the “most basic idea of federalism” and encouraged residents to volunteer to support them. 

“It takes us volunteering and taking the time to make our ideas known and heard and not just pounding it on a pulpit or on in front of a committee,” Lowman said. "But being part of the process to go through the hard work of actually looking at it, testing it, making it work for our community." 

Reflecting on running in the last election, Lowman said it was a mixed bag with two concurrent, yet differing experiences. He said navigating the two Republican central committees, in Boundary and Bonner counties, was complicated as the two organizations have differing ways of endorsing a candidate. 

That experience, especially with the Bonner County organization, was described by Lowman as frustrating. However, Lowman said when he was running and meeting people to better understand their issues was enjoyable. 

“So, a very different experience between the two groups, frustrating in some regards, but also enjoyable in others,” Lowman said. “I've definitely made new friends in the process and understood that our district struggles in different ways through the process.” 

Lowman’s name will appear on the ballot during the May 19 primary elections, challenging Rasor for the District 1B seat in the Idaho House of Representatives.