Jerald Raymond

Jerald Raymond: Idaho Republican Incumbent for House District 31A

Jerald Raymond is a Republican member of the Idaho House of Representatives representing District 31A, which covers Lemhi, Clark, Fremont, and Jefferson counties in eastern Idaho. Raymond lives in Menan and is seeking re-election in the May 19, 2026, Republican primary, where he is running unopposed. Democrat Kindsey Smith is running in the Democratic primary for the same seat. Raymond is currently serving his second consecutive term.

Background

Raymond was born in Rigby, Idaho, and is a fourth-generation Idahoan. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Ricks College. His professional life has centered on agriculture: he and his wife Cheri own and operate a feedlot near Menan and have worked in the cattle industry for decades, per the Rexburg Standard Journal. He served as a Jefferson County commissioner from 2010 to 2016, including four years as commission chairman, per his VoteSmart biography. He served as president of the Idaho Cattle Association and as a board member of that organization beginning in 2014. He has been an appointed member of the Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Council for the Upper Snake River District since 2015 and serves on the board of the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission, as described in his campaign materials. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Norway. Raymond and his wife have been married more than 45 years and have six children and 25 grandchildren, as he noted in a 2024 East Idaho News profile.

Political Career

Raymond was first elected to the Idaho House in 2018, representing District 35A, where he served on the Agricultural Affairs, Business, and Education committees. He lost the 2020 Republican primary to Karey Hanks by 148 votes, per the Rexburg Standard Journal. After redistricting combined both Raymond and Hanks in the newly drawn District 31, Raymond defeated Hanks in the 2022 Republican primary and won the general election with 14,401 votes (85.98 percent) to Connie Delaney's 2,349 votes, per the Rexburg Standard Journal. He ran unopposed in the 2024 Republican primary and defeated Delaney again in the November 2024 general election, per Ballotpedia. Raymond chairs the House Agricultural Affairs Committee and serves on the Resources and Conservation Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Committee, per his Idaho Legislature biography. His elevation to chair of the Agricultural Affairs Committee was noted by the Idaho Association of Counties as part of a pattern of former county commissioners filling key committee leadership positions in the 2025 session. In 2024, Raymond introduced the Rangeland Improvement Act, legislation that would give local grazing district boards greater authority to prioritize rangeland improvement projects such as water distribution, cross-fencing, and predator and invasive species control, and direct the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to apply for grants to fund those projects, as reported by East Idaho News. He also voted for and spoke in support of the Idaho Launch workforce grant program in 2023, telling colleagues that an East Idaho business owner had 150 open positions and needed the program to help fill them, as reported by KMVT. During his earlier term in District 35A, Raymond worked alongside Rep. Rod Furniss to push Governor Little to address health insurance costs for school employees. That advocacy contributed to legislation passing in the 2022 session creating a fund for school districts to enroll staff in the state government health insurance plan, per the Rexburg Standard Journal. Raymond had been unseated before the bill was formally written.

Policy Positions

On public lands, Raymond has argued against federal regulatory changes that he believes would undermine the multiple-use doctrine governing Bureau of Land Management lands. In a June 2023 guest column published by the Post Register, he criticized a proposed Department of the Interior rule that would have introduced conservation as an approved land use under new standards, arguing it would threaten existing grazing practices and that ranchers provide wildlife habitat while reducing wildfire fuel loads. On education, Raymond has identified it as a top legislative priority across multiple candidate questionnaires and interviews. He has expressed support for Idaho's public school system, school staff compensation, and school facilities funding. Telling the Post Register in 2022 that quality education for Idaho children was his principal motivation for seeking office, he stated: "I'm passionate about education for our kids." On taxes, Raymond has identified property tax relief as an ongoing concern for his constituents and has noted general support for the state's income tax reductions, per the Rexburg Standard Journal. On agriculture and natural resources, he has listed water rights and rangeland management as core priorities consistent with his career in the cattle industry.

Political Alignment

Raymond is a Traditional Conservative Republican. His presidency of the Idaho Cattle Association, his BLM Resource Advisory Council appointment, his Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission service, and his committee chairmanship of House Agricultural Affairs reflect the rural agricultural conservatism of eastern Idaho's farming communities. His emphasis on inter-legislative collaboration (which he explicitly contrasted with the voting pattern of his predecessor, Karey Hanks, a founding member of the Idaho Freedom Caucus who cancelled Rep. Rod Furniss's vote 105 times in the 2022 session with little communication, per the Post Register) is consistent with governing-oriented conservatism. His support for the Idaho Launch program, the school employee health insurance legislation, and the library bill veto override further reflect that alignment.

Campaign and Endorsements

Raymond is running unopposed in the May 19, 2026, Republican primary for District 31A, per Ballotpedia. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Raymond in either his 2022 or 2024 races. Campaign finance records are available through the Idaho Secretary of State's Sunshine database.