Joseph Messerly announces run for D35A
While Caribou County has a historically long tradition of Democratic politicians in office, that has been very much the exception rather than the rule for the last several decades. Joseph Messerly, who was recently named “Young Democrat of the Year” by Idaho Democratic Party Chairwoman and Assistant Minority Leader Lauren Necochea at the State Central Committee meeting on March 9, is hoping to change that in his run for the District 35A seat currently held by Representative Kevin Andrus. All three of the Representative and Senator spots for the district will be contested by Democrats in 2024.
Joseph moved to Caribou County when he started kindergarten. He was born in Charleston, West Virginia, then moved to Idaho Falls and then Bear Lake before moving to Caribou County. He graduated from Soda Springs High School in 2018.
He served a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Richmond, Virginia, which is where he met his wife Paige. After they were married in Meridian, they lived in Rexburg briefly before moving back to Soda Springs, where Messerly worked in real estate. Paige is a paraprofessional with the school district in Soda Springs.
Messerly has been taking a break from real estate while he gets his BBQ food truck up and going. Joseph’s brother Caleb worked for one of original owners of the truck. “I actually came here from another job. It was a great way to stay in the community and be involved. And working with him [Joseph] made it great.” Joseph originally joined Caleb during some of his downtime with real estate. When the owners moved to Houston to be with family, the Messerlys were offered a chance to purchase the truck, which they jumped on. Joseph had no specific background in BBQ, but he explains his philosophy as “Meat is good. Dry rub is good. So my job is to not screw it up!” Other than a learning curve at the beginning as a result of buying the truck right at the start of winter, he claims they have hit their stride. They have added a few things to the original menu, including smoked peach cobbler. “Smokers is how we cook everything, except the fries—we do have a frier in there.” The most popular item was reported to be the “Hog pen,” which is a bed of fries, cheese, pork, coleslaw and sausage dribbled over the top. On Wednesdays, the daily special is loaded mac n cheese.
The truck will be in service during the campaign season, as it happens to coincide with a number of upcoming fairs and other events.
Like the food truck, the campaign has also turned into a family affair, with his brother Caleb acting as campaign manager, and his wife Paige helping out in countless ways.
Messerly explains that he has always been connected to the Democratic Party, and he feels that at present the party provides the best means for allowing him to pursue the issues that are important to him and to District 35. “It gives us all the Education opportunities, Voting rights opportunities, and opportunities to help young Idahoans stay in Idaho,” are all things he points to as shared values with the party. He also states that the IDP has been “Extremely supportive” of his campaign. Although the district itself changed (from 32) several years ago, Messerly believes that he is the first party member to run in the area in around 6 years.
Messerly says that “we have such a great mix, within our economy and our locals. We get a lot of people coming through, but also a lot of people who have been around for a long time and love it here. They really care a lot about the past of the community—which we care a lot about, because we have a great history here—but also a focus on the future, and making sure that anywhere in Caribou, Bear Lake, and the other areas around here are great places which are livable for the future.”
In terms of what kinds of things he would like to see changed in the county, Messerly talks about the level of engagement people have with state government. “We need people to become more aware of what is going on in Boise, and how it affects people here. There are a lot of things in the pipeline that will be affecting people’s lives here very soon.”
One specific example Messerly mentions is the current House Bill 710, which seeks to prohibit some materials from being displayed or “promoted” at public and school libraries. The bill was voted in favor of by current Representatives Wheeler and Andrus. Messerly acknowledges that the bill has a personal significance to him, as his mother Dorajo is the children’s librarian at Soda Springs Public Library. “The effects are beyond what you might initially think. This will apply to the ability of patrons to access materials and media through the library for research and totally legitimate purposes. It will lead to libraries checking IDs to check things out, and create an Adults-Only section that only adults can access. The logistics of that are likely to get very messy for some of our students in southeast Idaho.”
The bill also puts the responsibility for keeping the materials out of the hands of minors including “any other offensive materials.” Messerly points out that the language is vague enough that it places an unfair burden on librarians themselves to make those
judgements.
Beyond that issue, Messerly includes as his priorities such things as a new budget for the Idaho Launch Program. The Program provides up to $8000 for Idaho students to remain in Idaho and pursue post-secondary education in fields that they wish to gain skills in. Currently, there are 518 students between Teton and Bear Lake Counties have taken advantage of the program, the funding of which is yet to be
secured.
Another priority for Messerly is to create an environment where OBGYN providers want to practice and remain in Idaho. He mentions that he and his wife are planning to start a family, and he is concerned about the reported numbers of those providers who are leaving. “We can’t wait for it to become a problem where we need to get them to come back, before we start providing the care that we need here in Idaho,” he says.
Messerly sees the governor’s focus on education as a positive, but he also sees that support for infrastructure in the state’s school facilities is falling behind where it needs to be. In his experience, the biggest concern he has heard about from people he has spoken to is education funding, including both student support as well as buildings and infrastructure. “This was a problem we knew about at least five years ago, so it’s too bad it hasn’t been
addressed yet.”
Messerly is upfront about the resistance to Democrats in general in the area. He explains, “people can contact me if they really want to know what the Idaho Democratic Party stands for. We’re not from California or New York going to Washington. We’re Democrats that are in Southeast Idaho, and want what’s truly best for our area. I’d advise people to just watch whatever issues are important to them and just see how Democrats in the state vote on them. You stack them up on school choice, women’s health care, libraries—Democrats are on the side of the majority of what most Idahoans say they want in those areas.”
“The main thing we’re looking forward to is just talking to people. And not really just contrasting with my opponent, but more just putting my positions up against what they want for themselves and their families. I run into people who say they’d rather just keep their head in the sand than pay attention to what’s going on in Boise, because it’s too scary. But by the time something happens that affects them directly it might be too late to
be engaged.”
