This Is What I’m Up Against — And Why It Matters to You
Recently, my challenger Brent Reinke, along with Don Hall, Alex Caval, Cheri Volmer, and Casey Swenson, received an endorsement and backing from the Idaho Prosperity Fund—the political action arm of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI).
Let’s not pretend that’s just another “business endorsement.”
It isn’t.
It is a clear signal of alignment with the most powerful corporate lobbying machine in the State of Idaho. And that should matter to every grassroots Idahoan who still believes that government is supposed to answer to the people, not the boardrooms.
I have always believed this simple truth:
Idaho works best when policy rises up from the people, not when it is pressed down by powerful institutions.
What IACI Really Is
IACI likes to call itself a “business association.” On the surface, that sounds harmless, even noble. We all support business. I certainly do. I fight every day for local, family-run operations that are being buried under property taxes, fees, regulations, and inflation.
But IACI is no longer a small-business advocate.
Over time, it has evolved into a corporate policy engine tied to global economics, not local commerce. It represents massive interests—healthcare conglomerates, tech giants, utilities, industrial agriculture, developers, insurers, and multinational corporations.
And their influence doesn’t stop at the Capitol during session.
It runs deep.
Their Web of Influence
Most Idahoans have no idea how extensive this network really is.
Idaho Potato Processors – Not your local farmer. This represents large-scale processors with enormous interests in water use, labor pipelines, environmental regulation, transportation, land use, and trade policy.
Idaho Council on Economic Education – This shapes how our children are taught to think about economics, markets, labor, regulation, and government’s role. When corporate power helps guide “economic education,” it also shapes future voters and policymakers.
Idaho Leads Project – A leadership pipeline that trains “emerging leaders” inside a worldview aligned with corporate governance and centralized planning, not citizen-driven government.
This is not accidental.
This is how long-term political control is built quietly, generationally, and efficiently.
Political Power, Not Just Business Power
For decades, IACI has been known, by media and insiders alike, as the most powerful lobbying force in Idaho. Their power doesn’t show up in loud headlines. It shows up:
In PAC spending
In behind-the-scenes pressure
In legislative scorecards
In who gets protected
And who gets crushed before the public ever hears the fight
Even Governor Brad Little spent nearly 20 years inside IACI leadership, serving at the top of that organization before holding office. This explains why so many policies favor:
Large healthcare systems
Workforce pipelines
Development interests
And corporate stability
before families, farmers, and property owners.
Follow the Money
IACI’s political muscle flows through massive Idaho Prosperity Fund PAC. This is not fueled by $20 grassroots donors.
They are powered by:
Micron
Idaho Power
J.R. Simplot
Blue Cross
Timber and real estate giants
Large healthcare systems
These corporations don’t donate out of charity.
They donate because state policy affects their bottom line.
So when IACI endorses a candidate, that endorsement is not symbolic.
It is a transaction.
Votes in exchange for protection.
When people talk about “dark money,” they usually picture something hidden or foreign. But in Idaho, much of it operates right out in the open. Many of the corporations represented by IACI, and many of the same corporations that fund the Idaho Prosperity Fund, share the same dominant institutional shareholders: BlackRock and Vanguard. These are not mom-and-pop investors. These are two of the most powerful financial institutions on the planet. So when corporate money flows into Idaho politics through PACs and endorsements, we are no longer talking about “local business interests.” We are talking about global capital shaping local policy, one race, one legislature, one vote at a time. That is what dark money really looks like in the modern era: not secret, but distant, massive, and unaccountable to Idaho families.
Two Worldviews — One Idaho
IACI’s viewpoint:
“We need workers to keep the economy growing.”
Grassroots Idaho’s viewpoint:
“Enforce the law. Protect wages. Protect communities. Protect sovereignty.”
Who absorbs the cost of labor policy.
Corporations get the profit.
Communities absorb the impact.
Always.
That is why an IACI endorsement is not “neutral.”
It represents submission to an entire system of institutional economic control.
Why I Stand Where I Stand
I believe:
Families come before corporate systems.
Property owners deserve relief before corporations receive stability.
Local control matters more than centralized economic planning.
Idaho should never become dependent on federal money wrapped in golden ribbon and lifelong strings.
This race is not right versus left.
It is not Republican versus Republican.
This race is:
Grassroots Idaho versus Institutional Idaho.
Citizen government versus Corporate governance.
And as long as I have the privilege of serving you in the Idaho Senate, I will always choose:
Parents.
Farmers.
Small business owners.
Retirees.
Working families.
I will always stand for:
Protecting Idaho’s state sovereignty.
Exposing corruption, no matter who it embarrasses.
And voting against runaway government and bloated budgets.
Over any PAC.
Over any corporation.
Over any political machine.
On May 19 2026, you will make a clear choice about who represents you:
A candidate endorsed by IACI or a Senator who has always been grassroots, independent, and accountable to the people.
That choice is yours.
For me, it has never been about politics.
It has always been about stewardship.
Thank you for covering this. I will add that these lobbying groups get a boost from duplicated efforts in Idaho Water Users Association and Idaho Power Company. IWUA acts as though they are in the best interest of the farmers, but that seems to be far from the truth. Before an IWRB meeting, one of the attorneys was trying to sell a small farmer on attending the swanky Sun Valley conference where they have overpriced $50 sandwiches for lunch (his words, not mine). The inability to read the room by the attorney was about as tone deaf as IWUA’s understanding of what small farmers want - simple water right representation, not overpriced networking events.
Meanwhile, the legislature passed a massive $30 million water aquifer/recharge bill and IWRB proceeded to allocate only $2 million to the recharge effort in E Idaho, where the farmer who was a key advocate for the bill resides. In a follow up IWRB meeting that same farmer voices his frustration for being used in advancing a bill that wouldn’t send much into his region.
Enter doubling down on cloud seeding and pushing money out of state to Utah! The 2024 GAO report gives a terrible efficacy rating on the science of cloud seeding, but IWRB pushes to expand the program. Interestingly enough, lawsuits in other states on water contaminants have no impact on our fast tracked open-air scientific research. Tax payer dollars fund the liability-free research to Rainmaker - using drones and undisclosed flare ingredients. How can DEQ know what to test for if they do not have the “trade secret” flare ingredient list?
https://www.kmvt.com/2025/06/03/seminar-held-water-law-resource-issues/
Also enter IPC lobbyists pushing for more $ for these programs. No wonder some states are moving to get rate payer money away from utility lobbyists working against us.
https://energyandpolicy.org/tracking-states-getting-politics-out-of-utility-bills/
When our politicians make their political decisions based on who's given them the most money, we don't have a political system, we have an auction.