Heidi Smith-Takatori

Heidi Smith-Takatori: Idaho Republican Challenger for House District 9A

Heidi Smith-Takatori is a Republican challenger running for the Idaho House of Representatives in District 9A, which covers Washington and Payette counties and portions of Canyon County in southwestern Idaho. Smith-Takatori lives in Parma and is challenging first-term Republican incumbent John Shirts in the May 19, 2026 primary. She has not previously held state elected office.

Background

Heidi Smith-Takatori is a lifelong Idahoan who grew up on a ranch near Salmon, according to her campaign website. She graduated as valedictorian from Capital High School and earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Idaho in 1978. She then earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Washington State University in 1981 through the UI-WSU cooperative veterinary program, as documented on her Ballotpedia candidate profile. She later earned a Master of Divinity from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 2012. Smith-Takatori spent nearly two decades running an equine veterinary practice in Oregon before returning to Idaho. She subsequently worked as a teacher and served as a Presbyterian pastor in rural congregations across the state, according to her campaign website. She and her husband Sherman Takatori, a retired Army captain, live in Parma. She describes herself as a life member of the NRA.

Political Career

Smith-Takatori has not previously held state elected office. She is challenging incumbent John Shirts, who was first elected to the District 9A seat in 2024 after defeating then-incumbent Jacyn Gallagher in the Republican primary.

Policy Positions

Smith-Takatori has outlined her priorities through her campaign issues page and a candidate survey completed in 2025. On agriculture, she has called for restoring the partnership between the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the University of Idaho Extension Service, which she characterizes as having been a national model for agricultural collaboration before breaking down. She calls for eliminating what she describes as layers of unqualified bureaucracy at ISDA, returning subject-matter experts to the agency, and ensuring that plant-side agriculture including orchardists, seed growers, and crop producers receives equal attention alongside animal industries. On fiscal policy, she supports property tax reform to protect homeowners and ranchers from rising assessments, zero-based budgeting for state agencies, and independent audits to hold agencies accountable. On education, she opposes what she characterizes as ideologically driven curriculum mandates, supports expanding school choice and protecting homeschooling rights without government interference, and supports allowing trained school staff to carry concealed firearms as a school safety measure. On Second Amendment issues, she identifies as a life member of the NRA. In her candidate survey, she described herself as someone who is "not intimidated by authority" and emphasized limited government, property rights, and defending constitutional freedoms as central to her platform.

Campaign and Endorsements

Her campaign themes center on agricultural policy reform, property tax relief, parental rights in education, fiscal restraint, and Second Amendment protections.

Certified results from the Idaho Secretary of State show Heidi Smith-Takatori received 2,013 votes, or 24.34 percent, in the May 19, 2026 Republican primary for Idaho House District 9A. Incumbent John C. Shirts won the nomination with 6,257 votes, or 75.66 percent.