America’s two-party system needs an overhaul, according to three independent candidates running for office who spoke during the DART Independent Candidate Forum on Thursday evening. 

A crowd of about 100 people filled the Harding Family Center’s gymnasium.

“When I retired in 2018, I had always assumed that I was Republican. But I retired into this world where I could not recognize the Republican Party as it wasn’t the sort of values and the worldview that I had grown up with,” said Sarah Zabel, a retired U.S. Air Force major general who served for 31 years and is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. 

John Stegner, a former attorney and Idaho Supreme Court justice running for governor, said he threw his hat into the race because not enough is being done to make meaningful changes in the state.

“I was raised to believe that when something wasn't working, you didn't stand back and expect things to change; you stepped in and you fixed the problem,” Stegner said. 

Candidates talked of doing away with the two-party system, the inaction by Congress to pass effective legislation and the importance of working together.

“The majority sets the agenda,” said Todd Achilles, a U.S. Army veteran and former tank commander who represented District 16B in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2024 to 2025 and is running for the U.S. Senate. “So if there's no majority party and the independents are negotiating on what comes to the floor, that's a massive amount of power to get this country back.”

Achilles said a poll of likely voters four months ago showed he was trailing opponent U.S. Sen Jim Risch by 14 points. A week ago, his campaign said those numbers now showed Achilles ahead by five points.

Stegner said if elected, he would make Idaho not only a place where people can afford to raise families, but one where they see the opportunities and promise of settling in Idaho, a priority. He cited his three daughters as an example of the exodus of families.

“They're proud Idahoans, and yet none of them live in the state of their birth anymore,” Stegner said. “It's not because they didn't want to live here; it's because they felt they couldn't afford to live here."

Both Zabel and Achilles expressed their frustrations with how Congress has handled the Iran War. They cited the War Powers Act of 1973, which requires Congress to vote to declare war on other countries. 

“It’s blatantly unconstitutional, the fact that Congress has managed to kind of swim on through and ignore the Act is really very disturbing,” Zabel said. “I will be vocal. I will do the right thing. I will be part of the voice of reason, of control.”

Achilles said what people are seeing right now in Iran is a military operation in which there were no clear objectives, no plan to win and no way out.

“We’ve got 5,000 Idahoans on active duty. We’ve got part of our reserve unit that's actually in Jordan, and you got missiles rained on it two nights ago," Achilles said. "This is unacceptable."

Another topic broached was the lack of connection between elected officials and their constituents.

“I think of him as a friend, but I feel betrayed by Governor Little,” Stegner said. “If I thought he had our backs right now, I would not be running for governor today."

The Nov. 3 election could be the catalyst toward party system change.

“You all are involved, you came out here,” Zabel said to the crowd. "You're using an evening to come and listen to us and to think about what we have to say. I appreciate that. Please talk to your neighbors. Tell them they need to involve themselves because there's something to see.”

    Retired Air Force General Sarah Zabel introduces herself to the crowd at the DART Independent Candidate Forum. Zabel is running for Idaho's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  

    United States Senate candidate Todd Achilles is running as an Independent, a departure from his previous time as a Democrat in the Idaho State Legislature.