Cherie Vollmer

Cherie Vollmer: Idaho House District 25, Seat B, Republican Nominee

Cherie Vollmer, a Twin Falls City Council member and Realtor, won the Republican primary for Idaho House District 25, Seat B on May 19, 2026, with 3,229 votes (55.21 percent) to incumbent Rep. David Leavitt's 2,620 votes (44.79 percent), per certified Idaho Secretary of State results. No Democrat filed for the seat, so the November 3, 2026 general election is between Vollmer, the Republican nominee, and Independent candidate Liyah Babayan.

Some public listings still name "Jeremy Brown" as Vollmer's general-election opponent. That is incorrect. No candidate by that name appears anywhere in Idaho's official 2026 candidate filings; the error traces to an outdated third-party page, not the ballot itself. The Secretary of State's own candidate records show only Vollmer and Babayan for this seat.

Background

Vollmer was born and raised in Twin Falls. According to her campaign site, she graduated from Twin Falls High School, attended the College of Southern Idaho, and earned a bachelor's degree from Western Governors University. She spent about a decade in the Houston area working in Human Resources and Real Estate while raising her two daughters, then returned to Idaho, where she built a career as a licensed Realtor.

Her campaign biography emphasizes her local roots. She describes herself as a mom, grandma, Realtor, and council member, and frames her run around affordability, public safety, and what she calls preserving Idaho values.

Public service record

Vollmer was elected to the Twin Falls City Council in November 2023 and serves as the council's Parks and Recreation liaison. Her other affiliations, per her campaign site, include vice president of the Southern Idaho Republican Women, membership on the Twin Falls County Republican Central Committee, and service on the Greater Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She has also served as a commissioner on a Twin Falls historic-preservation body, belonged to the Rotary Club and Optimist Club, sat on the Twin Falls Optimist Youth House board, and serves as president of an annual Christmas-present drive for Heritage Assisted Living.

Primary-period fundraising

Vollmer entered the race as a challenger and outraised the incumbent. According to an Idaho Capital Sun analysis of Idaho Sunshine campaign-finance data as of April 22, 2026, Vollmer had raised $30,960 to Leavitt's $21,855. That is a snapshot from the primary campaign period, several months old by the general election, and should not be read as a current total for either candidate.

Platform

Vollmer's stated priorities, per her campaign site, center on four areas:

• Public safety. She pledges continued support for first responders and law enforcement, says she will uphold Second Amendment rights, and names secure borders as part of public safety.
• Affordability. She highlights housing costs, property taxes, and household budgets, drawing on her work as a Realtor with families looking for homes they can afford.
• Water. She lists protecting water for "farmers, ranchers, and municipalities" as a priority.
• Local interests. Under the heading "Idaho Values, Not Out-of-State Interests," she argues state policy is too often driven by outside organizations and says Idaho decisions should be made by Idahoans.

On the Idaho Republican Party's candidate page, under the party's "Integrity in Affiliation" section, Vollmer wrote: "I support independent judgement in representing LD25, making choices that serve the broader community. My decision will be guided by my duty to the Constitution of Idaho and the Constitution of the United States, the voices of my constituents, and my own principles. While I remain committed to conservative Republican ideals, I will not compromise the financial stability of our state in the process."

Positions from a May 2026 interview

In a May 17, 2026 interview on the Political Potatoes podcast, Vollmer spoke about regulation, education, Medicaid, and local control, drawing on her three years on the city council.

On regulation, she pushed back against the idea that Idaho can keep loosening rules indefinitely: "We've been able to go how many decades now with bragging about being the least regulated state. How close are we to not being able to brag about that? We're simple bills away."

On public education, she said: "You can't cut public education. It's constitutional and it's also our community."

On Medicaid, she said the program may need reform but that eliminating it entirely "is not the answer at all."

On local control, illustrating her view with the state's 2025 flag bill, which restricted what state and local government entities can fly, she summed up her position: "Leave it to the cities."

The general election

The general election on November 3, 2026 features two candidates for House District 25, Seat B: Cherie Vollmer, the Republican nominee, and Liyah Babayan, running as an Independent. With no Democrat in the race, the contest decides the seat outright.

Sources

• Cherie Vollmer for State Representative, campaign site with biography, community involvement, and stated priorities
• Idaho Capital Sun, April 23, 2026 analysis of primary-period fundraising from Idaho Sunshine data
• Political Potatoes, May 17, 2026 podcast interview with Cherie Vollmer
• Idaho Secretary of State, certified May 19, 2026 primary results