Jim Woodward
Jim Woodward: Idaho Republican Incumbent for Senate District 1
Jim Woodward is a Republican member of the Idaho State Senate representing District 1, which encompasses all of Boundary County and most of Bonner County in the state’s northern panhandle. Woodward is running for re-election and declared his candidacy for the May 19, 2026 Republican primary. He lives in Sagle, Idaho, and is seeking what would be his fourth term in the seat, though his tenure has been non-consecutive.
Background
Woodward was raised in Bonner County, Idaho, and graduated from Bonners Ferry High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Idaho. After completing his education, he served in the U.S. Navy for 21 years of active and reserve duty as a submarine officer, retiring as a commander, per Ballotpedia.
Woodward began working in the construction industry in 2000, and in 2008 he became the owner of Apex Construction Services, a heavy construction and excavating company. Outside his business, he has served twelve years on the Northern Lights Electric Co-op Board and represents the cooperative with the statewide electric utility association. He is also a Sagle Fire District commissioner and a Bonner General Health Foundation Advisory Board member.
Political Career
Woodward was first elected to represent District 1 in the Idaho State Senate in 2018, following the retirement of his predecessor Shawn Keough, who endorsed him. He was re-elected in 2020. In 2022, Woodward lost the Republican primary to Scott Herndon. In 2024, he defeated Herndon in the District 1 primary and went on to win the general election against independent Dan Rose.
In the current term, Woodward serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and as a member of the Senate Education Committee. Senate Finance members also serve on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which sets state agency budgets. During the 2025 interim, Woodward co-chaired the Land Use and Housing Study Committee.
In the 2025 and 2026 sessions, Woodward focused on budget process reform, housing, public safety funding, and amendments to Idaho’s abortion law. On budgeting, he has argued for returning to the funding-package structure used for nearly five decades, calling the 2024 split into “maintenance” and “enhancement” packages a departure from sound practice. On public safety, his Senate Bill 1379 to raise Idaho State Police trooper pay passed the Senate 28-7 but did not receive a House hearing.
In March 2025, Woodward and Rep. Mark Sauter introduced Senate Bill 1184, a draft bill to add a health exception to Idaho’s abortion ban and to define when the procedure would be allowed. The bill did not receive a full hearing.
Policy Positions
On property taxes and housing affordability, Woodward has stated that increasing the homeowner’s exemption is his top legislative priority, noting that the exemption has not been indexed to rising home values.
On healthcare, Woodward has called for revisiting Idaho’s abortion law, specifically regarding complications during pregnancy and the criminalization of medical providers, and said Idaho has laws in place driving doctors away and preventing new ones from coming.
On primary election structure, Woodward has advocated for returning to an open primary, stating that the closed primary excludes nearly thirty percent of registered voters and makes it harder to get results that reflect the makeup of Idaho.
On housing regulation, Woodward co-sponsored Senate Bill 1263 as a contrast to House Bill 583, which would remove most municipal authority to regulate short-term rentals. He helped defeat similar legislation in 2025, telling the Sandpoint Reader: “I believe in local control.”
On transportation, Woodward has identified investment in transportation infrastructure to accommodate Idaho’s rapid population growth as a top priority.
On House Bill 752, the criminal bathroom-access bill passed by the legislature in March 2026, Woodward voted in favor. He told colleagues during floor debate: “I don’t support the punitive measures in this bill, but the policy does reflect the sentiment of my community, and so for that reason, I will support it. It is the best for the most.” He voted against House Bill 822, which requires schools and providers to notify parents when minors request social transition assistance, citing concerns about its punitive measures.
On public lands, Woodward’s campaign website lists support for responsible public lands management as a stated priority alongside low taxes and investment in education and infrastructure.
Political Alignment
Jim Woodward is a Traditional Conservative Republican. His legislative record reflects fiscal conservatism, support for public education funding, local control, and rural infrastructure investment. He has no documented ties to the Idaho Freedom Caucus or Citizens Alliance of Idaho. His campaign messaging frames his priorities as “fiscally conservative decisions, level-headed decisions, mainstream Idaho decisions” and explicitly positions his approach against what he describes as out-of-state ideological influence in the legislature.
A 2024 letter in the Bonners Ferry Herald during the primary noted Woodward’s IFF score during his earlier Senate tenure was a failing grade by that organization’s metrics, consistent with his positioning as a legislator who does not align with IFF’s framework.
Woodward expressed support for the Take Back Idaho political action committee when it launched in late 2021, describing its founding members, who include former Speaker Bruce Newcomb, former Senate Pro Tem Bob Geddes, and former Attorney General Jim Jones, as “rural Idahoans who have served the state over many decades.”
Campaign and Endorsements
Woodward announced his 2026 re-election campaign in February 2026. His primary opponent is Scott Herndon, whom he defeated in 2024 after Herndon had unseated him in 2022. As of early 2026, Ballotpedia had not identified formal endorsements for Woodward in the 2026 race. His campaign themes center on property tax relief through homeowner’s exemption reform, transportation investment, budget process reform, and public safety.
FAQ
Who is Jim Woodward, Idaho? Jim Woodward is a Republican Idaho State Senator representing District 1, which covers Boundary County and most of Bonner County in northern Idaho. He lives in Sagle and owns a construction and excavating company.
What district does Jim Woodward represent? Woodward represents Idaho Senate District 1, the northernmost legislative district in the state.
Is Jim Woodward an incumbent? Yes. Woodward is an incumbent senator who has served three non-consecutive terms in the seat, first elected in 2018, defeated in the 2022 primary, and returned to the Senate after defeating his primary opponent in 2024.
What committees does Jim Woodward serve on? Woodward serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and as a member of the Senate Education Committee. Senate Finance members serve on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which sets state agency budgets.
What are Jim Woodward’s key policy positions? Woodward has publicly prioritized increasing Idaho’s homeowner’s exemption to address housing affordability, reforming the state budget process, investing in transportation infrastructure, and addressing physician shortages he attributes in part to Idaho’s abortion laws. He has also advocated for returning Idaho to an open primary election system.
2024 Primary Election Results Woodward 8,219 / Herndon 7,606
2024 General Election Results Woodward 23,402 / Rose 7,286
Profile published by IdahoVoters.com. Last updated April 2026. This profile will be updated as additional information becomes available.
News Stories
A business owner with a degree in engineering, Woodward had a hand in education budgets and several pieces of education policy during his four years in the Senate. That list includes teacher pay raises and a budget line item that allows districts to move school employees under the state’s insurance plan, a shift designed to provide improved health benefits at a lower out-of-pocket cost.
But on his website, Herndon repeatedly refers to Woodward as a liberal. And Herndon cites a string of education issues: Woodward’s 2020 vote against a law banning transgender students from playing in girls’ sports; Woodward’s support of a $6 million-a-year federal early education grant, rejected by the House in 2021; and Woodward’s support of higher education budgets that allow spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Woodward defends his votes. The transgender athletics bill was legally flawed, and remains mired in federal court. The grant, from the Trump administration, would have allowed teachers, parents, nonprofits and schools to come up with local learning plans to help young readers. And the backlash against DEI runs counter to preserving intellectual freedom at colleges and universities.
“I don’t feel the need to oversee everyone’s thoughts on a campus,” he said. “That’s, I believe, another distinction between myself and Scott Herndon.”
If he returns to the Senate, Woodward says he would like to return to JFAC and Senate Education.
Woodward has some reservations about the changes in JFAC. He says the followup budgets are nothing more than a “scheme” that allow conservatives to kill some spending bills while still saying they supported maintenance budgets for schools or public safety.
If Woodward returns to Senate Education, he’s likely to be a consistent vote against school choice measures. He’d also be likely to take up an issue that was brewing when he was in the Senate before: revamping the school funding formula. He’d like to see a rewrite that would provide more funding for special-needs students.
In the Idaho Senate race in Legislative District 1, which includes Bonner and Boundary counties, former Idaho Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, is running against incumbent first term Sen. Scott Herndon, also R-Sagle. That sets up at least the third primary showdown between Woodward and Herndon. In 2018, Woodward defeated Herndon in the GOP primary election. But in 2022, Herndon defeated Woodward. Two other independent candidates, Daniel Rose of Sandpoint and Steve Johnson of Sagle, have also filed to run for the Idaho Senate in Legislative District 1 and will look to take on the winner of Herndon and Woodward’s primary election during the Nov. 5 general election.
Through March 31, incumbent Sen. Scott Herndon and challenger Jim Woodward have spent $132,162 ahead of the May 21 GOP primary.
Anyone who has been following Idaho elections has been watching this Panhandle rematch between two Sagle Republicans. Herndon unseated Woodward in an expensive 2022 primary, in a major pickup for the GOP’s hardline conservative faction. Herndon now sits on the Senate Education Committee and the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
So far, Woodward has spent $90,707 to Herndon’s $41,455.
Jim is a native Idahoan who was raised here in Boundary County. Jim attended the University of Idaho, and served 21 years of active and reserve duty in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a commander. Jim served in the Idaho Senate for two terms, where he did an exemplary job representing Boundary and Bonner counties. He currently serves as a Northern Lights director and a commissioner of his local fire district. His public service and life experiences make him the best candidate to serve us in the Idaho Senate.
Jim Woodward, who held the seat Herndon now holds and is running for the seat again in 2024, said most don’t want age-inappropriate material in the libraries. However, he said this legislation could be massaged out a bit more to find the best solution for communities and their libraries. He also said that library boards are elected for a reason — to offer local voices a say in what happens in their communities.
“We’ve created those positions, as an elected official, to have responsibility for a library,” he said. “The closer to home a decision is made, the better the decision. That’s local control versus the idea of a state-wide answer. One size fits all never fits well. We don’t have to have somebody at the state level telling us how to do things at the local level.”
With certain definitions being somewhat vague, including what it means to “relocate” a book, Woodward said this bill could just cost extra taxpayer money with little success.
“The result might just be a lot of time in court trying to decide what this bill really means, so it’s costly for the taxpayer to do this wrong,” he said.
With similar legislation being presented right now, Woodward said there are other opportunities to address concerns from the public that won’t include a private right to action like HB 384 does.
“When you put something into law, it’s mandatory, so you ought to get it right the first time,” he said. “If the porridge is too hot or the porridge is too cold, you better make sure you wait until the porridge is just right, then we’ll vote yes and do it once and not multiple times with court cases in between.”
Initial attempts to pass this type of legislation first began in 2023 with HB 314.
Education took center stage at a recent legislative town hall in Sandpoint, where more than 130 attendees gathered to hear from state leaders, including Senator Jim Woodward and Idaho Superintendent Debbie Critchfield. Discussions focused on a return to foundational learning, with renewed emphasis on phonics and cursive contributing to rising reading proficiency across the state.
Woodward and fellow panelists addressed key concerns from the community, including school funding, curriculum priorities, and the long-term direction of Idaho’s education system. Critchfield also highlighted the expansion of career-technical education programs—now numbering over 170 statewide—as part of a broader effort to prepare students for a variety of career paths.
Budget challenges remained a central theme, with officials emphasizing the importance of maintaining strong support for schools while balancing broader state financial pressures.
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On opponent Herndon.
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