Bruce D. Skaug

Bruce Skaug: Republican incumbent for Idaho House District 10, Seat B

Rep. Bruce D. Skaug, R-Nampa, is the incumbent for Idaho House District 10, Seat B, on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot against Democrat Beth Ann McFalls. He won the May 19, 2026 primary unopposed, receiving 7,443 votes, a certified result. He is in his third House term and chairs the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.

Background

Skaug was born in Pocatello and raised in Jerome, and has lived in Nampa since the early 1990s, according to his official Idaho Legislature biography. He is a fifth-generation Idahoan. He earned an A.A. in social science at the College of Southern Idaho, then a B.S. in political science and a law degree at the University of Idaho.

He worked as an Ada County deputy prosecutor, then owned and operated his own law firm for 32 years before retiring. Before the Legislature, he served on the Nampa City Council from 2014 to 2020, including time as council president. He and his wife, Debbie, have been married since 1986 and have six grown children and 12 grandchildren.

Legislative record

Skaug was House floor sponsor of House Bill 220 in 2021, which prohibited the use of public funds for abortion. The bill passed and was signed into law. It was a narrower defunding measure, separate from Idaho's near-total abortion ban. On his Idaho Republican Party candidate page, he writes: "One of my first bills, passed into law, defunded abortion providers. I have a long track record of being pro life and served seven years on the Lifeline Board in Nampa."

In 2025 he was floor sponsor of House Bill 7, which added a $300 mandatory minimum fine for simple marijuana possession. It passed and was signed into law. It was his second attempt; an earlier, similar version died in committee in 2024.

The death penalty bills

In 2024, Skaug was a co-sponsor of House Bill 515, which would have allowed the death penalty for lewd conduct with a child under 12 with aggravating circumstances. Idaho law at the time allowed the death penalty only in first-degree murder cases, and the U.S. Supreme Court had barred the death penalty for child rape in Kennedy v. Louisiana in 2008. The bill passed the House 57-11-2 but died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Defending the bill on the House floor, Skaug said: "There is a deep, dark, dark side in our culture. And it's our job to protect the children. There are times when things are so wicked that retribution is appropriate," according to the Idaho Capital Sun. Responding to constitutional concerns, he said: "Well there's constitutional and there's constitutional. Depends on the court of the day."

In 2025 Skaug sponsored House Bill 37, which made death by firing squad Idaho's primary execution method, with lethal injection as the alternative; a 2023 law had allowed firing squads only as a backup when lethal injection was unavailable. The bill, co-sponsored by 16 other House Republicans, passed the House 58-11-1 and the Senate 28-7-0 and was signed into law, effective July 1, 2026, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. Skaug called firing squad "more humane because it's quick and certain" and said it would be an automated, mechanized system: "So it will not be a line of volunteers with rifles." He told the committee there would be "fewer appellate issues in the courts with a firing squad than with intravenous injection injections; that's my opinion," calling it his own view. The Legislature had already appropriated $750,000 to build or remodel a firing squad facility at the Department of Correction, and Skaug said any further costs would come from the agency's existing budget rather than a new appropriation.

Committee leadership and a testimony dispute

Skaug became chair of the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee in 2023. Early that session, he ruled he would not accept testimony from anyone under 18 unless they were invited, the first House committee chair to announce such a rule; committee agendas carried a note reading "YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD TO TESTIFY."

About 30 high school students, many involved with the nonpartisan youth voter-registration group Babe Vote, attended the committee's January 27, 2023 meeting to protest, some carrying signs reading "Let us speak." After what he described as numerous calls and emails, Skaug modified the rule that same day. He read the new rule to the committee, according to the Idaho Capital Sun: "It is the goal of the committee to maintain decorum and receive testimony from all interested persons in public hearings. However, in the interest of time management, this committee may give preference to citizens of Idaho over noncitizens in the order of testimony. The committee will not restrict testimony for children; however, adults may be given preference in order of testimony. Children under the age of 18 years must have a parent or legal guardian present to testify, or, in the alternative, must provide a permission slip from a parent or legal guardian." Before announcing the change, Skaug told the committee he'd been surprised by the news coverage: "There is a war in Ukraine... But the biggest news in the newspaper lately has been this committee, on one of our rules."

Where he stands

In 2025 Skaug sponsored House Bill 85, which would have let the governor veto voter-approved ballot initiatives; it died in the House State Affairs Committee. He defended the idea, saying the governor's veto "is a good protection for a misinformed electorate if they don't get the information like we get to have."

In 2026 he was House floor sponsor of House Bill 557, which would preempt local nondiscrimination ordinances protecting LGBTQ+ people. He argued such ordinances "are often weaponized against different businesses and people... the bakers, the photographers, the wedding venues being forced to participate in ceremonies." The bill passed the House 53-16-1 and was pending in the Senate as of this writing.

On his Idaho Republican Party candidate page, Skaug lists property tax relief as a top issue: "I will never vote for a tax increase." His 2026 campaign finance filing shows $20,672.70 in contributions, $14,791.14 in expenditures, and an ending cash balance of $24,798.70, with $9,000 in outstanding debt.

Sources

• Idaho State Legislature, official 2026 member page for Rep. Bruce D. Skaug
• Idaho Secretary of State, certified May 19, 2026 primary results
• Idaho Capital Sun, "Idaho bill to make firing squad main death penalty method heads to full House," February 3, 2025
• Idaho Capital Sun, "Certain sex crimes against children could carry death penalty under bill approved by Idaho House," February 13, 2024
• Idaho Capital Sun, "Idaho legislator changes testimony ban to allow people under 18 to testify with parental permission," January 27, 2023
• Idaho Capital Sun, "Bill would give Idaho governor veto power over voter-approved ballot initiatives," January 29, 2025
• Idaho Capital Sun, "Idaho bill to ban local protections against LGBTQ discrimination heads to House," February 2, 2026
• Republican Party of Idaho, candidate page for Rep. Bruce Skaug
• Idaho Secretary of State, campaign finance disclosure for the 2026 election cycle