Chris Bruce

Chris Bruce: Idaho House District 23, Seat A

In May 2024, Chris Bruce won his first Idaho House race by 83 votes, 3,288 to 3,205, against Melissa Durrant. Two years later, Durrant ran again for the Republican nomination in District 23, Seat A. This time Bruce won by 1,456 votes, 3,663 (62.4 percent) to her 2,207 (37.6 percent), a much wider margin than their first contest. He now heads to the November 3, 2026 general election as the Republican incumbent, where he faces Constitution Party candidate Paul M. Smith after Democrat Emily Fisher withdrew on August 26, 2026.

Bruce is a first-term state representative from Kuna, a mortgage loan officer by trade, and the president of the Kuna City Council. He sits on the Legislature's budget-writing apparatus through his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, and his campaign has drawn substantial support from outside political action committees even as he has publicly called for restraint on out-of-state spending.

Background and path to office

Bruce was born and raised in Georgia and has lived in Idaho for about a decade, according to his official legislator biography and his Idaho Republican Party candidate page. He began originating mortgages in 2001 and has worked in the industry for more than two decades, including time as a branch manager. He is currently a loan officer at Premier Mortgage Resources LLC, where his individual NMLS number is 1435739.

Several years ago, Bruce survived acute lymphocytic leukemia and spent 33 days in the ICU. "After that time, we kind of looked at what we want to do and what we want to provide," he told Idaho Education News. "We try to serve in our community and just, you know, pay it forward." His wife, Kyrsti, is a trustee for the Kuna School District. The couple have been married 21 years and have two sons, 15 and 18.

Bruce was elected to the Kuna City Council in 2021 and reelected in 2025; his term runs through November 2029, per the city's council page. His road to the Statehouse included two losses. He ran for House District 22, Seat A in 2020 and lost to Rep. John Vander Woude, 69.8 percent to 30.2 percent, and he ran for District 23, Seat B in 2022, finishing third in a four-way primary won by Tina Lambert. Those results come from the Idaho Secretary of State's elections database. In 2024 he finally won, beating Durrant in the primary and Democrat Wendy Coome in the general election with 80.1 percent of the vote.

Legislative role and committee work

Bruce's 2026 House committee assignments are Appropriations, Commerce and Human Resources, and Environment, Energy and Technology, according to his legislator page. His Appropriations seat is the reason he is often described as sitting on the budget-writing committee; the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which drafts the state budget, draws its House members from Appropriations.

Balancing the Legislature with city hall is a schedule he says works. Two days a month during session, he leaves the Statehouse and drives straight to the Kuna City Council meeting. "I always represent the people," he told Idaho Education News. "No matter what chair I sit in, I try to look out for them."

On budgeting, he has framed his approach around both constitutional obligations and the taxpayer. "Yes, folks need these services, but what about the taxpayer that may be working two or three jobs and not using any of these programs?" he said, referring to health and welfare spending he has questioned in committee. On his party candidate page, he writes that the state's health and welfare budget reached $5.7 billion this year, with roughly 89,000 able-bodied people enrolled in Medicaid expansion, and that the state needs "to make sure that able body people are working and paying their way."

School choice and education legislation

Education is the issue that has defined Bruce's races. He sends his own children to public schools but argues that public money should be flexible. "If the state's going to put money towards public education, then it should follow the kid," he told Idaho Education News. In 2025 he voted for House Bill 93, the Parental Choice Tax Credit, which passed the House 42-28 and created a tax credit for families who choose private schooling. In 2026 he voted for House Bill 883, which gives high-performing public school districts more flexibility in how they spend state funding. He liked the idea but told Idaho Education News he would like to go further: "Limiting some public schools and rewarding other ones, I'd like to see us look at that as a whole and maybe allow schools, just like agencies do, to be able to use the funding as they see fit."

The PAC money that followed him

Bruce's 2024 primary campaign was bare-bones. He spent $2,731 and drew no support or opposition from any political action committee, according to Idaho Education News. The PAC money in that race ran almost entirely against Durrant, who had voted against a 2024 private school tax credit bill while serving in the House. The Idaho Federation for Children PAC, funded by out-of-state money, spent $80,655 opposing her that year, and the national super PAC Make Liberty Win spent another $17,142.

Bruce has said he wants that kind of spending reined in, whether or not it helps him. "Money comes from everywhere, right?" he told Idaho Education News. "We see it in all elections and all cycles... Good, bad or ugly, it's there." He also said, "I think getting back to where it's just you and the community out spending time, that's what I try to do." He told the outlet he has spoken with American Federation for Children lobbyists at the Statehouse but has not communicated with its PAC, which cannot coordinate with candidates on independent expenditures.

His own 2026 campaign has drawn that kind of outside backing anyway. Two political committees spent money independently to support him: the Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC spent $28,916.53, and a committee called 36-18-1 Inc. spent $26,575.34, per Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine filings. The Citizens Alliance of Idaho PAC's largest all-time contribution is $896,000 from Citizens Alliance Political Action Committee Inc., a super PAC based in Fairfax, Virginia. The 36-18-1 Inc. committee is funded entirely by a single donor, Jordan Redman of Post Falls, who has given it $350,454.74.

Bruce's own campaign committee reported $28,555.40 in contributions and $19,635.36 in expenditures this cycle, ending with $12,783.85 on hand, according to his Sunshine filing. His top contributors include out-of-state donors such as Arthur Dantchik of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania ($2,000) and Stefan Gleason of Charlotte, North Carolina ($1,000), along with $1,000 each from the International Association of Fire Fighters PAC and Western Roots FEC.

Stated positions and voting record

Bruce submitted the Idaho Republican Party's affiliation statement affirming he supports the state party platform as the standard for evaluating his performance. His party candidate page lists three top issues. On education funding, he argues money should follow the child to whichever setting, public, private, charter, virtual, or home school, fits them best. On data centers, he writes that current law exempts them from sales tax on server equipment and building materials and caps their property tax, and that he has worked for two years on legislation to scale those exemptions back and add limits on water and electricity use. On government transparency, he has twice run legislation to require public-comment sections and livestreaming for taxing-district meetings.

On social issues, he opposes abortion, framing it as "life begins at fertilization," and supports Second Amendment protections. He also states opposition to "any bill that promotes the flow of illegal immigration into Idaho."

His 2026 voting record includes one vote that stands out from an otherwise conservative scorecard: he voted no on House Bill 493, which would have increased penalties for commercial sexual solicitation. The bill passed the House 50-19-1 anyway, and his vote is a matter of House roll call record. On fiscal scores, the Idaho Freedom Foundation gave him a 2026 Freedom Index rating of 88.1 percent and a Spending Index of 83.7 percent, with lifetime marks of 88.8 percent and 87.7 percent, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.

The rematch and what comes next

The 2026 primary unfolded very differently from 2024. Durrant, a former one-term representative and now a speech-language pathologist in the Kuna School District, was outspent by outside committees again this year, with the AFC Victory Fund reporting $38,318 in spending to oppose her, per Idaho Education News. Bruce's own campaign outraised hers this cycle, $28,555.40 to $24,436.37. The result was a 24.8-point margin for Bruce after an 83-vote margin two years earlier.

The general election on November 3 is now a two-candidate contest. Bruce faces Paul M. Smith of the Constitution Party after Democrat Emily Fisher withdrew from the race on August 26, 2026. District 23, Seat A covers parts of rural Owyhee, Ada, and Canyon counties.

Sources

• Rep. Chris Bruce, Idaho State Legislature official member page
• Chris Bruce candidate page, Idaho Republican Party
• Chris Bruce, City of Kuna official website
• Chris Bruce, Idaho Secretary of State elections database
• Chris Bruce campaign finance profile, Idaho Sunshine
• District 23: School choice money shapes rematch between former legislator, budget committee member, Idaho Capital Sun