Idaho Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, 83, has been in his position for nearly 20 years. In reliably red Idaho, he has won his previous general election contests by comfortable margins.

His independent challenger, former Boise Democratic state legislator Todd Achilles, 58, has raised nearly $700,000 this year and is arguing that he presents the alternative for people who aren’t happy with either party.

“I’m speaking to roomfuls of Republicans who are just tired of the Idaho GOP, and they’re ready for something new,” Achilles told the Idaho Capital Sun. “And I think they’re really excited about what we’re talking about in this campaign. There’s a lot of angry Republicans in Idaho right now.”

After the Democrat in the race, David Roth, ended his campaign late last month, Achilles has said his chances are better.

Risch said the race doesn’t feel any different.

“I know people are getting excited all of a sudden because I was running against two Democrats, and now I’m running against one Democrat,” Risch told the Sun, referencing that Achilles was a Democratic state legislator. “I’ve done that all my life.”

The candidates agree that unaffordable healthcare and the nation’s agricultural migrant worker visa program are problems that need to be addressed, and that Idaho’s public lands need to be protected. They differ greatly about how they want to go about addressing those issues.

Libertarian candidate Matt Loesby and independent Natalie Fleming are also running for the seat; neither candidate responded to requests for interviews. Roth has not yet filed the paperwork to formally withdraw from the race, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Tuesday. He has until Sept. 4 to do so, otherwise his name will still appear on the ballot.

Achilles wants to reform the Affordable Health Care Act. Risch wants to return it to private sectorRisch and Achilles agree that healthcare affordability is a problem, and it’s something they hear about from voters.

“We talk about it all the time,” Risch said. “I think the problem, to be solved, the healthcare system is going to have to be moved significantly more back into the private sector.”

Risch said the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, is “a mess.”

“Whether you’re inside the system or whether you’re outside the system, people complain about it,” he said, “and it needs work, but it needs the private sector.”

Achilles said the Affordable Care Act “is not working, it needs to be reformed.”

He criticized Congress for allowing the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, which were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to make insurance purchased through the statewide healthcare marketplace more affordable.

People purchasing this insurance with the credits received a boost in 2021, but the larger credit expired at the end of 2025 when Congress did not extend the program. The U.S. House voted on a bill to extend the enhanced credits, but it did not move forward in the Senate.

Risch is ‘all in’ on SAVE Act. Achilles says it’s ‘federal overreach

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The voter identification bill called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, is under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The bill includes specific voter ID requirements to prove citizenship to register to vote. It is currently illegal for people who aren’t citizens to register to vote or to vote in a federal election.

Risch said that Idaho’s elections are “rock solid safe.”

“That is not true all over America, and we as Idahoans have the right to demand that other states do not allow people who are not citizens of this country to vote,” Risch said. “I’m all in on that. I’m all in on the SAVE Act.”

He said he wasn’t persuaded by the argument that the bill may limit eligible citizens’ ability to vote, such as married women who have changed their names. Risch said that argument was a “red herring.”

“That’s a manufactured complaint by people who are opposed to it,” he said. “If you’re going to go get a driver’s license, you’ve got to go get those documents. You can’t just walk in and say, ‘I’m here to get a driver’s license’ and not give them backup to document it. So I don’t buy that argument. ... I’m not in favor of anything that keeps a person from voting who is eligible to vote.”

Achilles said Idaho already had appropriate identification requirements for voting.

“The SAVE Act is federal overreach,” Achilles said. “And I mean, everyone in the state rejects a federal gun registry. The SAVE Act is the equivalent of a federal voter registry. Same principle.”

Public lands protection is a top issue for both candidatesRisch and Achilles both named protection of Idaho’s vast public lands as a top priority.

Achilles said the federal agencies that manage those lands, such as the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, need to be properly staffed.

“The first responsibility is: make sure we don’t sell any lands,” Achilles said. “The second responsibility is to make sure the agencies are resourced to actually take care of lands.”

He criticized massive staffing cuts at the Forest Service that took place at those agencies last year, led by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk. He also criticized reductions in staffing at the Bureau of Land Management. He said poor staffing is contributing to challenges during an active fire season this year.

Achilles said he supports raising the federal payments local governments receive to offset lost revenue from the lack of property taxes collected on federal lands within their borders, called Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT.

Risch also opposes the sale of public lands.

“It’ll be over my dead body that we sell off public lands,” Risch said.

He underscored his efforts to fight off a proposal last year to sell off large swaths of public lands. He and two other members of Idaho’s four-member congressional delegation all opposed the sale, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Risch also underscored his work while he served as Idaho governor to craft Idaho’s own Roadless Rule, which was finalized in 2008 and outlines conservation and management of around 9 million acres of roadless federal lands in Idaho.

Idaho was the first state to adopt its own Roadless Rule. The Trump administration has taken steps to consider rescinding the federal Roadless Rule, but has exempted Idaho and Colorado, the two states with their own guidelines.

Risch acknowledged that management, especially in regard to wildfire prevention, could be better.

“We can do it better than what we have been, and we’re going to continue to work at it,” he said. “There’s no magic silver bullet for this.”