BIG CREEK – Six local candidates, three state candidates and one federal candidate spoke Tuesday night during the Shoshone County Nonpartisan Candidate Forum at the Shoshone Golf Club. 

The event was co-hosted by the Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Shoshone News-Press, which reached out to local leaders of Shoshone County's political central committees to invite candidates to participate. 

More than 75 people packed the clubhouse to hear from candidates Todd Achilles, John Stegner, Sabine Krier, Valerie Wade, Tami Atkins, Jay Huber, Katie Murray, Rick Smith, Dameon Groves and Karey Eddy. 

Because candidate turnout was smaller than expected, candidates were allowed more time than the customary five-minute limit to address attendees. Each candidate also fielded at least one question following their remarks. 

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Todd Achilles was the lone federal candidate to participate in the forum. During his presentation, Achilles spoke about his time as a Democratic member of the Idaho Legislature and how he found success working with legislators on the other side of the aisle. 

Achilles, who is running against Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said he believes Congress is not functioning as intended because of the two-party system, which is why he chose to run as an independent. 

"When congress isn't working, the judiciary and the executive branches fill in the gap," he said. "And our system of government is not designed to work that way." 

Stegner, a retired judge and independent candidate for governor, highlighted his background, including five years on the Idaho Supreme Court. Throughout his campaign, Stegner has argued that Gov. Brad Little has done little to improve the lives of Idahoans and has allowed national politics to take precedence over state issues. 

"I was raised to believe that if something wasn't working, you don't just stand back and hope things get better," Stegner said. 

Democratic candidates Valerie Wade, who is running against Phil Hart, R-Athol, for the District 2 Senate seat, and Sabine Krier, who is challenging Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, for District 2 House Seat B, each discussed platforms centered on community involvement, civic engagement, lowering taxes and opposition to data centers. 

At the county level, incumbent Treasurer Karey Eddy is unopposed for re-election, as is Republican Dameon Groves, who won his primary race against Ryan Frick for the District 1 Shoshone County commissioner seat. Both addressed attendees during the forum. 

Eddy thanked people for supporting her and said she looks forward to continuing to serve the people of Shoshone County.  

Groves, a police officer for the city of Kellogg, said that his two primary goals with the county are the continued success of the sheriff's office and working with the Shoshone County Public Works department to strengthen its dwindling workforce.  

The race for the District 2 commissioner seat features Republican Tami Atkins, Democrat Jay Huber and write-in independent candidate Sabrina Hyndman. 

Hyndman did not attend the forum, but both Atkins and Huber spoke. 

Huber, a former two-term commissioner, lost his re-election bid in 2022 to David Dose. Huber said his platform remains unchanged and is focused on helping people. 

Atkins is new to county politics but said her nearly 25 years in banking have prepared her to focus on the county budget and identify areas where unnecessary spending can be reduced. 

Katie Murray, a Democrat running against Republican Robert Savage for the open Shoshone County assessor position, spoke about her experience working in the assessor's office for much of the past decade. She also discussed the challenges of meeting state assessment requirements and emphasized that the property assessment process is established by the state, not the county. 

Savage was not in attendance. 

Democrat Rick Smith, the county's incumbent coroner, is being challenged by Republican Julie Hernandez. Smith outlined his years of experience, the challenges facing the coroner's office and the importance of working with outside agencies when a situation exceeds his office's resources. 

Hernandez was not in attendance. 

Also no in attendance was Shoshone County Sheriff Shawn Wehr. Wehr is unopposed in the ballot after winning a three-way race during the primary against John Richter and Chris Rice.

Juli Zook, representing the Silver Valley Chamber, said she was pleased with the turnout but disappointed that not all local candidates were able to participate. However, she did acknowledge that some of the missing candidates may have had prior engagements competing for their time. 

"This forum has been a longstanding tradition in the county for years and this year was another great entry," she said. "It sounds like some of the candidates who couldn't make it were torn between coming here or attending the monthly meeting for their central committee. I appreciate their commitment to their local group, but it would have been nice to see all the candidates so that voters could ask them questions and really get to see all their options during such an important election year."