POCATELLO — Idaho Rep. Tanya Burgoyne, District 29 Seat B, won her current office in 2024 over then-incumbent Democrat Nate Roberts, who is running again this year.

But before Burgoyne can focus on her race against Roberts, she must first face fellow Republican Jennifer Miles in the May 19 primary.

Burgoyne said she ran in 2024 because she felt her views were not being represented in Boise.

"I am for family and freedom," she said. "I really believe those things should be supported and they are the basic units of society. We will progress when we give the family the support it needs."

Miles said she decided to run when she started paying closer attention to the Idaho Legislature and concluded it was making too many decisions with too much impact at the local level.

"Republicans like government that is localized," she said. "We make decisions best because we know our own community. School boards should be making decisions best for their schools based on their budget rather than the state making decisions across the board."

Burgoyne is originally from Utah and met her husband while attending school in Rexburg. She is a mother of nine, with two children still at home, and the family has called Pocatello home for the past 22 years.

Miles is originally from Soda Springs and first moved to Pocatello in 2000 to attend Idaho State University. She moved between the two cities several times but has been a Pocatello resident since 2013. She holds bachelor's degrees in education and social work and a master's degree in social work.

If elected, Miles said she would like to focus on education and healthcare.

"I support all education, including parental choice," Miles said. "I think they should all have some kind of funding. When we educate our youth, it goes back into the community."

She is also interested in keeping communities safe and sees a need for healthcare and substance abuse services.

"Those services help keep our families together," Miles said. "They help keep crime down, they help keep costs down."

She said the goal is not to spend more money on these programs but to find the best use of existing resources.

Burgoyne points to Idaho's status as one of the fastest-growing states in the nation and attributes it to the values people find there. She wants to see those values enhanced rather than eroded by additional legislation.

"The reason people are coming to Idaho is because it's a great place to live," she said. "It's because of the laws. We have a lot of people who are political refugees. They are coming from places where the laws don't support families and don't support business."

Burgoyne would also like to address property taxes, suggesting reductions and even an eventual elimination of the property tax altogether.

"If you have to pay property taxes on something you buy, you're never really free, you never really own your property," she said.

She is also concerned about unfunded state mandates that force businesses and civic entities to absorb costs while already operating on lean budgets.

"I don't think the people should be burdened with something required by the state that doesn't fund them," Burgoyne said. "The state is saying you have to do this and figure out how to get the money from your taxpayers."