Christy Zito

Christy Zito: Republican incumbent for Idaho Senate District 8

Christy Zito is the Republican incumbent for Idaho Senate District 8 on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. She won the May 19, 2026 primary with 3,589 votes, or 43.38%, in a three-way race. Megan Blanksma received 2,871 votes (34.70%) and Terry Gestrin received 1,813 votes (21.91%). Zito faces Democrat John Garrett in the general election. District 8 covers Boise, Custer, Elmore, and Valley counties, a large rural district in central and southwestern Idaho.

Background

Zito is in her first term representing District 8. She won the seat by defeating incumbent Sen. Geoff Schroeder in the May 2024 primary. Her current term began in December 2024, according to her official page on the Idaho Legislature website.

She has served in the Legislature before. Zito spent four years in the Idaho House representing District 23, from 2016 through 2020. She then served one term in the Idaho Senate for District 23, from 2020 through 2022. She did not seek re-election that year and worked outside the Legislature until returning in 2024.

Her official biography says she was born in Utah and grew up ranching in Stone, Idaho. She owns a small business and operates a farm. She has been a PTA president, a school board member, and that board's vice chairman. She previously chaired the Idaho Republican Party's Resolutions Committee and has served as a Friends of NRA committee chairman. She has five children and 11 grandchildren.

In the Legislature

Zito sits on three Senate committees. She is vice chair of Agricultural Affairs and a member of Commerce and Human Resources and Education, per her official legislative page.

Her voting record scores at the top of the Idaho Freedom Foundation's 2026 indexes. The foundation's leaderboard gives her an A+ Freedom Index of 98.4% and an A+ Spending Index of 98.8%, tied with Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld for the highest Senate score. The Freedom Index measures how often a legislator votes the way the foundation prefers, so the score describes one group's rating of her record rather than an independent evaluation.

Zito is named first among the members of the self-described Idaho Gang of Eight. The group describes itself as legislators "standing up for the people, not the political class" and says it is part of the State Freedom Caucus Network. Zito sponsored SB 1298 in 2026, a bill on self-defense immunity hearings and attorney reimbursement introduced February 16, 2026. The official sponsor of record is the Senate State Affairs Committee, and no further action on the bill is recorded.

Outside the Legislature, Zito holds a paid role with a gun-rights advocacy group. She is Political Director and a board member of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, which rebranded as Honor Idaho in February 2026. Her official biography lists her as a board member. An investigative dossier published by IdahoExtremism.org documents the paid executive role and reports that the group operates a network of media sites that promote Zito's legislative work.

Her campaign committee has paid McShane LLC and its successor RMC Strategy a combined $11,976.64 across the 2023, 2025, and 2026 election cycles, according to Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine campaign-finance filings cited by IdahoExtremism.org.

Sources

• Idaho State Legislature, official member page confirming Zito's district, term, committee assignments, and biography
• Idaho Gang of Eight, the group's own page listing members and its self-description
• Idaho Freedom Foundation, 2026 Freedom Index and Spending Index scores
• IdahoExtremism.org, dossier on Zito documenting her I2AA / Honor Idaho role and campaign consultant payments
• IdahoExtremism.org, dossier on McShane LLC / RMC Strategy confirming the firm's renaming and Idaho client payments
• Idaho Secretary of State, Sunshine campaign-finance portal