Kelly Walton

Kelly Walton: Idaho House District 22, Seat A

Kelly Walton won a tight Republican primary in May and now faces Democrat Loren Petty in the November 3 general election for a House seat opening up in the Treasure Valley. Walton, a 69-year-old real estate agent and former general contractor, defeated former state Rep. Greg Ferch by 115 votes, 3,120 (50.94 percent) to 3,005 (49.06 percent), in the May 19 primary, per certified results. The seat is open because Rep. John Vander Woude, who has held it for eight terms, is retiring; Walton says Vander Woude invited him to run in his place and is serving as his campaign treasurer. The Idaho Statesman's primary preview describes the district as touching Boise, Meridian, and Nampa — consistent with Vander Woude's own official listed address of Nampa.

Background

Walton's career spans construction and real estate. According to his Idaho Republican Party candidate biography, he is a former general contractor whose work included building roads, traffic signalization, airports, water systems, and sewage treatment plants, and he now works as a real estate agent. In his KIVI-TV candidate questionnaire, he wrote that he has owned dozens of Idaho rental properties and employed as many as 75 people since the mid-1990s, saying, "I've always 'made payroll.'" He has knocked on more than 15,000 doors in the district, according to the same questionnaire.

His political background comes almost entirely from his own account. His Idaho Republican Party candidate biography says he served as executive director of ACT for America, describing the organization as growing to "a million members, 30,000 volunteers and 1200 chapters nationwide" during his tenure from 2008 through 2016, with a staff of 15 including two full-time lobbyists. Those figures, like the title itself, appear only in Walton's own campaign biography and questionnaire; independent profiles of the organization do not mention him.

Property taxes and growth

Two of Walton's four stated issue areas lead with the same priority: lowering property taxes. On his archived campaign issues page (his campaign site is offline; the page survives through a June 2026 Wayback Machine capture), he writes that "Idaho families, especially seniors, feel the heavy burden of skyrocketing property taxes" and pledges to fight to keep families in their homes. He also calls for eliminating what he terms bloated state programs and streamlining government.

On growth, Walton leans on his professional history. "As a contractor and realtor, Kelly understands development from the ground up," his campaign page states, and he backs what he calls common-sense growth strategies to protect neighborhoods, schools, and rural communities while keeping housing affordable. Idaho is one of the fastest-growing states, and the Treasure Valley's roads and infrastructure, in his words, are "woefully underprepared" for the current rate of growth, per his Idaho GOP biography.

Energy and infrastructure

Walton's most specific policy proposal concerns electricity. He says he sits on the board of Idaho Energy, an Eagle-based company developing what it calls a Molten Salt Nuclear Battery — a 10-megawatt small reactor that his biography says could power a city the size of McCall for 15 years without refueling. He frames the technology as a way to eventually free up water now used for hydropower and redirect it toward recharging the Snake River aquifer for irrigation.

In the KIVI questionnaire, Walton named data centers as the driver of the problem, writing that power rates are "on a curve to increase 400% in the near future" as large data centers locate in the region. His first proposed bill would bar public utilities from supplying electricity to data centers, requiring what he calls "inside the fence" production so public power sources stay separate.

Social issues and national security

Walton's campaign materials place conservative social positions alongside fiscal ones. He says he serves on the board of Idaho Chooses Life and says his work helped develop Idaho's 2022 Defense of Life Act, which he credits with saving "thousands of Idaho babies" per year. His Idaho GOP biography says he opposes the abortion-related ballot measure on the November ballot and would "actively promote its reversal in the legislature should it pass." On education, his archived campaign page pledges to defend parental rights and to oppose what he calls harmful agendas in Idaho classrooms.

The national security plank centers on land and infrastructure. His campaign page argues that foreign adversaries seek to control American resources and pledges to stand against foreign ownership of Idaho lands, energy, and infrastructure. It also backs stronger defenses for the power grid, technology systems, and critical infrastructure.

The ACT for America question

Walton's account of his ACT for America years is the most-discussed part of his resume, and it rests entirely on his own statements. His Idaho GOP biography and his KIVI questionnaire both describe him as the organization's former executive director, responsible for its growth to a million members and 1,200 chapters and for more than 80 state statutes restricting recognition of Sharia law between 2008 and 2016.

The organization itself has drawn outside criticism. In its primary preview, the Idaho Statesman reported that watchdogs have called ACT for America an anti-Muslim hate group, and noted that Walton did not respond to an email asking for his response to that designation. The Statesman attributed Walton's title and organizational figures to his campaign website rather than to independent verification. Walton's own campaign materials describe the organization's members as "dedicated to protecting our nation's security and freedoms."

Campaign finance and the general election

Walton's campaign reported $31,968.97 in contributions and $42,234.55 in expenditures through his most recent filing, an August 2026 monthly report, on the Idaho Secretary of State's Sunshine portal, with $25,000 in outstanding loans. His top donors, at $1,000 each, include the Professional Firefighters of Idaho PAC, Boise Firefighters Local 149 PAC, the Idaho Association of Realtors, Idaho Power Company, the Idaho AGC State PAC, and Idaho Forest Group.

Voters in District 22 Seat A will choose between Walton's platform of lower property taxes, small nuclear reactors, controlled growth, and conservative social policy, and Democrat Loren Petty. The seat has been in Republican hands for eight terms, but the 115-vote primary margin shows the party's own voters were closely split on who should hold it next.

Sources

• Who's running in Idaho Legislature's District 22 primary?, Idaho Statesman
• Rep. John Vander Woude, Idaho State Legislature member page
• Kelly Walton candidate biography, Republican Party of Idaho
• Idaho House District 22 Seat A Candidate Q&A, KIVI-TV (Idaho News 6)
• Walton for Idaho issues page (Wayback Machine capture, June 8, 2026)
• Kelly Walton candidate profile, Idaho Sunshine campaign finance portal