Liyah Babayan

Liyah Babayan: Idaho House District 25, Seat B, Independent Nominee

Liyah Babayan, an Independent, faces Republican Cherie Vollmer for Idaho House District 25, Seat B, in the November 3, 2026 general election. The Twin Falls County voter pamphlet lists only the two of them for the seat. Babayan has run for this office before, and this time she arrives with a statewide business award and one of the smallest campaign budgets on the ballot.

Who she is

Babayan is a 20-year Twin Falls small-business owner and mother of four, according to her statement in the county voter pamphlet. She graduated from Twin Falls High School and holds bachelor's degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Southern Oregon University. She founded Ooh La La Boutique in 2007 and later MAKEPEACE, an Idaho-based skincare line made from potato starch that donates soap with each sale. Her campaign site describes her as a business coach and the author of a refugee memoir, and says she survived war, genocide, and homelessness. Those details are self-reported by her campaign.

Civic record

Her community service spans roughly two decades. Appointed by Mayor Don Hall in 2009, she served on the Twin Falls Parks & Recreation Commission, later on the Twin Falls School District Board of Trustees and the Main Street Redesign Committee, and she worked on citizen initiatives and opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Project, per the voter pamphlet. The pamphlet statement sums up her community work in one line: she "built her businesses from the ground up while investing deeply in community service."

The most independently verified item on her record is the 66th Idaho Business Leader of the Year award, given in 2026 by Idaho State University's Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. The award has been handed out annually since 1959, and past honorees include former governors and leaders of some of Idaho's largest companies. ISU's announcement credits her with mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and championing the city's first Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Accepting the honor, she told local coverage: "It's not just me that's being recognized... it's the community."

Where she stands

Babayan's platform, laid out on her campaign site and in her pamphlet statement, leans on several themes. On government, she calls for keeping officials "free from conflicts of interest, nepotism, and kickbacks" and says her campaign is "100% people-funded" because she "refuse[s] contributions from PACs or special interests." On personal liberty, she says she "led the effort to get Twin Falls District 25 certified to put Reproductive Freedom on the ballot this November." She proposes a Twin Falls Regional Infrastructure Revenue Adjustment Act to update the state's sales tax allocation formula so the city keeps a fairer share of the revenue its regional shoppers generate, to help fund roads, infrastructure, public safety, and first responders. On land and water, she writes about "defending Idaho's water, public lands, and resources from unchecked development, including data centers." Her pamphlet statement also names Second Amendment rights and Idahoans' freedom to make their own decisions.

The money

Her campaign finance filing tells a small story in exact numbers. Through her most recent report on the Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine portal, she raised $2,256.00 for the cycle, spent $1,657.33, and had $598.67 cash on hand and $0 in debt. The filing shows $2,240.00 came from individual people and $0.00 from companies, with a single $16.00 self-contribution. Her largest donor is Terry Ford Jr. of Twin Falls at $500.00. Family members appear near the top of the list: Aram Babayan of Denver gave $400.00, and Tamara Babayan and Martin Babayan of Twin Falls gave $250.00 each, followed by Phyllis Mascari at $250.00. That pattern matches her stated position: the filing records no PAC or company money at all.

The 2022 race

This is her second run for the same seat. In the November 8, 2022 general election, Babayan lost to Republican Gregory Lanting, according to Idaho Secretary of State results: she received 3,155 votes, or 27.6 percent, to Lanting's 8,278 votes, or 72.4 percent, in a two-candidate race.

Sources

• Liyah Babayan campaign site, stated positions and self-reported biography
• Idaho State University News, February 5, 2026 announcement of the 66th Idaho Business Leader of the Year award
• Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine portal, campaign finance profile for Liyah G. Babayan
• Idaho Secretary of State elections database, certified November 8, 2022 general election results for House District 25, Seat B