Candidates speak to voters in Caribou County

Last week, several candidates met with members of the community at the 3C Grill in Grace.

Senator Mark Harris, Representative Mike Veile, and District Judge Cody Brower took turns introducing themselves to the crowd that had gathered at the familiar Grace location, and then answered a number of questions on a range of topics.  The event was hosted and catered by 3C, and moderated by Jim McCulloch.

Current Sixth District Judge Cody Brower went first.  Brower, who has officially moved to Grace, was appointed by Governor Little to replace the recently retired Judge Mitchell Brown.  The Sixth Judicial District encompasses Bannock, Bear Lake, Caribous, Franklin, Oneida, and Power Counties.  Brower served as the Oneida County Prosecuting Attorney from 2016 until 2023.  

“Ultimately, this election is going to be decided in the primary, since there are only two of us running.  Your district judge will be determined on May 19,” Brower said.  

He grew up in Liberty, near Bear Lake.  “My dad Lynn Brower was the magistrate judge over there, so I kind of followed in the family footsteps.  I was appointed two and half years ago by Governor Little to complete Judge Brown’s term after he retired, and now I’m running for re-election.”

He met his wife in Rexburg, and they have 3 kids that go to school in Grace, where they now live.  “It’s been a real pleasure to start to raise a family here—we really love it so far.” 

Brower states that he has “been in public service almost my whole adult life.  When I was seventeen I joined the Idaho National Guard and drilled south of here in Preston.”  He deployed to Iraq in 2007, where “I raised my right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution.  As a prosecuting attorney I again had that opportunity.  And now as a judge I had that opportunity again.  As a judge, I have a unique chance to truly protect people’s constitutional rights.  Sometimes, it involves supporting outcomes that I might not want, but they are outcomes that must happen because the Constitution demands it.  It’s my obligation to make sure that those rights are upheld at all times.”

Brower concluded his introduction by saying, “As a judicial philosophy, I believe that people who come before my court should be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness.  Many times it’s the worst day of their lives.  And the courtroom changes lives.  So I hope when they’re there, no matter the outcome they leave feeling that they were listened to, treated fairly, and that I listened to all of the facts and circumstances before I made a decision.  I believe that I should be unbiased in my courtroom. Everyone should know they’ll get their day in court.  It is a pleasure to serve as your district court judge.

Senator Mark Harris is not being challenged with a Republican primary opponent.  Harris is a rancher who lives in the area, and is in his fifth term as a State Senator.  His wife Cheryl teaches at Thirkill.

“I got to work with Judge Brower a bit before we re-districted, and he’s a good man.  We’re lucky to have him here,” Senator Harris said.  Harris also has a connection to Grace, as he explained.  “As many of you know, my mom grew up here, my dad went to school here before they got married and moved to Eight Mile.”

“It’s an honor to represent you in the Idaho state senate,” he continued.  “It’s something I can’t really express in words, but it’s a real treat for me.  I currently serve on the state Senate Affairs Committee, the Health and Welfare Committee, and the Resources Environment Committee, and my peers honored me electing me to serve as the Senate Assistant Majority leader, which is a whole new ballgame.”

He stated, “I get to work with Representative Wheeler, Representative Veile, and it truly is an honor to serve with both of them.  I think we make a strong legislative team for District 35.  We meet every week Monday to go over what we’re hearing in the district, and talk about what we can do about it.  This last session was an interesting session—one of the big topics was the state budget.  We had a slight economic downturn, and the governor issued an order for all departments to take a 3% cut.  We did pass some good legislation this session.  Senate Bill 1389 is one I sponsored, which would protect churches and Lions clubs and other voting places to make sure they would not be subject to liability.  We did it in a good, clean way.”  SB 1326 is an affirmation of fourth amendment private property protections that requires government agents get a warrant before entering private property.  

 “I do want to mention what a privilege it has been to work with Representative Veile.  I watched him as he was appointed, and then hit the ground running.  He did a lot of work on behalf of our district, and I’ll let him tell you about what he’s done, but I think it’s important that we help him win his election.  He’ll tell you his heart in in education, and I hope to see him team up with a senator we have and get some great things done.”

Mike Veile was also appointed by the governor, although the process differs from the one regarding judgeships, and involved the Republican Central Committee.

“I’m grateful you decided to take this opportunity to come out and be here,” Representative Veile said.  “I was appointed in September, and I recognize that it might sound cliché, but when I actually sat on the floor of the House as a Representative, it was such an honor.”

“I grew up in Rexburg, and went down to Utah State to school.  Every time I drove down to school, I took the road by Downey and I didn’t realize I was driving by my future wife’s house every time!”  He met his wife Shelly later on in Logan, and they have been married 37 years.  Veile has degrees in engineering, and worked at Monsanto for many years.  He now works as an independent engineer, and he says that what gives his the time to be a legislator.  “I love being on committees, I love working on bills, and like Senator Harris said, we have a great team.  We work together quite well, and we are always looking to see what we can do for it.” 

“It’s a big district.  It takes three and a half hours to drive from one end of it to the other.  There’s a lot going on.”

Veile state that “I served on the Education Committee, Business Committee, and Transportation and Defense.  I will admit that education is my passion.  I was on the School Board in Soda Springs, and I know that education is critical.  We talk about an educated citizenry, and how important that is.  Not just to have a job, but to understand how a country is run, and how their community is run. Public education in Idaho needs some focus, and it needs to be curated, and there are some things we can work on.  We need to make sure that people have the passion for that education.”  Veile worked on a number of bills related to education during the session.  One bill he spoke of involved giving charter schools autonomy over their budgets if they performed at a high level.  He stopped the bill at the committee level, and suggested that they change the bill to extend that franchise to public schools.  The bill was sent down, changed, and passed with Veile’s recommendations, which now makes high-performing school districts eligible for the same latitude. 

The candidates each spoke for ten or so minutes, and then answered questions from the audience for the remainder of the time.

Eric Hobson, Precinct Committeeman for Soda Spring 4 was in attendance and encouraged county residents to “Get out and vote.  Get informed on the people running and make the best decision about who you want to represent you.  Make your voice heard.”