Idaho General Election · November 3, 2026Find polling place
Democrat

Mary Shea

Mary Shea

Idaho House of Representatives, District 29 Seat A

Campaign website:Campaign Website
Phone:(208)-244-0040
Email:maryforIdaho@gmail.com
Facebook:Campaign Facebook Page
Campaign finance:Campaign Finance
City:Pocatello

Mary Shea, Democratic Nominee for Idaho House District 29 Seat A, Seeks a Third Race Against Dustin Manwaring

Mary Shea is running for a third consecutive time against Republican incumbent Dustin Manwaring for Idaho House District 29 Seat A. The general election is November 3, 2026. The two faced each other in 2022, when Manwaring won 7,575 votes to Shea's 6,931, and in 2024, when he won 12,214 to her 9,910, according to the Idaho Secretary of State's elections database. Shea has never held the seat.

The Path to the Ballot

Shea won the May 19, 2026 Democratic primary unopposed with 1,964 votes, per certified Secretary of State results. Manwaring also ran unopposed in the Republican primary and received 3,009 votes.

The Idaho Secretary of State's canvass records show Shea won both of her prior primaries unopposed, 1,360 votes in 2022 and 1,143 in 2024, and lost both general elections to Manwaring.

Biography

Shea grew up in a low-income, racially diverse neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, and her family later moved to Richmond, Virginia, during school desegregation, according to her campaign site. She writes that those experiences "sparked a lifelong commitment to civil rights, fairness, and building communities where everyone has the chance to succeed."

She earned a B.A. in English from the College of William & Mary and a J.D. from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law, where she served on the Law Review, according to her law firm biography. Before moving to Idaho in 1999, she clerked for the Virginia Supreme Court from 1990 to 1993 and worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from 1993 to 2000, practicing criminal post-conviction litigation and complex civil rights and personal injury litigation.

"Lasting change starts with listening to people, building relationships, and having the courage to act," Shea writes on her campaign site.

Legal Career in Idaho

Shea practiced law in Idaho from 2000 to 2013 in her own private civil litigation practice with an emphasis in family law, per her firm biography. She is admitted to practice in Idaho state and federal courts and in the United States Supreme Court, and she is a trained family law mediator.

From 2010 to 2017, she was the full-time Program Coordinator and Faculty for the AAS Degree Paralegal Studies Program at Idaho State University. She also served as advisor, member, and Committee Chair for the university's Bachelor of Applied Science Degree Program in Paralegal Studies.

Her bar and nonprofit work is extensive, according to her firm biography. She is past Chair of the 6th District Bar Family Law Section and helps edit the Idaho State Bar Family Law Handbook annually. She published an article in that handbook on parenting-time evaluators, which led to changes in the court rules governing those evaluations. She served as Board President of Idaho Legal Aid Services from 2008 to 2013 and remains a board member. She has also been Board President of the Portneuf Health Care Foundation and currently serves as counsel to Bright Tomorrows, LLC, a nonprofit counseling center for abused children.

Her campaign site identifies her as a Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist with more than twenty-five years representing families, children, grandparents, foster parents, and guardians in Idaho. She describes herself on the site as "a small business owner, a teacher and department head at ISU, a leader in the Idaho Bar, and, importantly, a mother of three." Her firm biography notes she enjoys the Idaho outdoors with her three sons and their three dogs.

The 2024 Library Law Rally

Ahead of House Bill 710 taking effect, Shea joined Sen. James Ruchti and Rep. Nate Roberts at a rally outside Pocatello's Marshall Public Library, per East Idaho News. The law requires libraries to move challenged materials to an adults-only section within 60 days of a complaint and allows civil suits against noncompliant libraries.

Shea told the outlet the legislation "invites people that cause a lot of mischief for political gain to get attention. All of that ultimately is going to be on the backs of our city taxpayers and our county taxpayers for public libraries. We're the ones who are going to have to pay for this nonsense." She also said, "We are not speaking for the libraries or the librarians — we are just supporting them," and called librarians "really hardworking civil servants."

After the law took effect July 1, 2024, Shea spoke at a second rally, reported by East Idaho News, and criticized language treating "any homosexual content whatsoever" as harmful to minors. "When somebody challenges content for being homosexual conduct, (it will) go to court. And guess who gets to pay for that? We do. Taxpayers," she said. She also said some Republicans "didn't want the bill to pass, but voted in favor to prevent division in their party."

Platform

In her February 2026 campaign announcement, covered by the Idaho State Journal, Shea said: "In my work with families and kids, I see how policy decisions in Boise land in real life. When housing is out of reach, when schools are stretched thin, when health care becomes unaffordable or inaccessible, families pay the price."

On education, her campaign platform calls for directing state and local funding to public schools and supporting mental health resources in schools, including counselors and providers for youth in Pocatello and southeast Idaho. Her platform page's FAQ, which notes its answers date to the 2024 election cycle, states on vouchers: "I will unequivocally reject any efforts to divert public funds from public schools to private or parochial schools," citing the Idaho Constitution's requirement to maintain a uniform system of free common schools.

Her platform also lists health care access and Medicaid expansion, property tax relief for small business owners, and reworking Idaho's abortion trigger-ban law to "remove the strict and rigid cutoffs that endanger the life of the mother." In the same FAQ, she wrote that she supports opening Idaho's closed primary system and creating instant runoff voting, adding, "I was willing to sign and publicly support the petition." Asked her top three issues, she named "education, mental health resources, especially for our youth, and the economic well-being of our communities, particularly in the face of rapid growth and the housing crisis."

In a separate October 2024 East Idaho News candidate Q&A, Shea described substituting for Sen. James Ruchti at the end of the 2024 legislative session, writing, "I had the opportunity to debate against some bills that are unpopular here in Pocatello."

Campaign Finance

Shea's 2026 campaign finance report on the Idaho Secretary of State's Sunshine portal shows a beginning cash balance of $31,218.29, contributions of $35,860.00, expenditures of $9,876.53, and an ending cash balance of $37,881.29, with $0 in debt.

Her largest contributions, at $2,000 each, came from Melissa Wintrow, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, the Bannock County Democratic Central Committee, and the Gem State Victory Fund. Sen. James Ruchti, her District 29 Senate running mate, contributed $1,000, as did John Paschke, Karen Walters, A.J. and Susie Balukoff, Anne Olden, and Jennifer Quick, per the Sunshine portal.

Sources

Profile published by IdahoVoters.com. Last updated September 27, 2026. This profile will be updated as additional information becomes available.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mary Shea running against in 2026?
Republican incumbent Dustin Manwaring, for the third consecutive election. Manwaring defeated Shea in 2022 (7,575 to 6,931) and 2024 (12,214 to 9,910), per Idaho Secretary of State canvass records.
Did Shea face a primary challenge in 2026?
No. She won the May 19, 2026 Democratic primary unopposed with 1,964 votes, per certified Secretary of State results.
What is her profession?
She is a Pocatello attorney and Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist who has represented families and children in Idaho for more than twenty-five years, and she currently serves as counsel to Bright Tomorrows, a nonprofit counseling center for abused children.
What did she do before moving to Idaho?
She clerked for the Virginia Supreme Court from 1990 to 1993 and served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from 1993 to 2000.
Where did she go to school?
She earned a B.A. in English from the College of William & Mary and a J.D. from the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law, where she served on the Law Review.
What is her position on school vouchers?
She opposes them. "I will unequivocally reject any efforts to divert public funds from public schools to private or parochial schools," her campaign platform page states.
Where does she stand on House Bill 710?
She spoke against the library-materials law at rallies in Pocatello in 2024, arguing it invites lawsuits whose costs will fall on city and county taxpayers.
What are her top campaign issues?
"Education, mental health resources, especially for our youth, and the economic well-being of our communities, particularly in the face of rapid growth and the housing crisis," per her campaign platform page.
Does she support changes to Idaho's primary system?
Yes. She has written that she supports opening Idaho's closed primary system and creating instant runoff voting, and that she signed and publicly supported a petition toward that end.
How much money has her 2026 campaign raised?
$35,860.00 in contributions against $9,876.53 in expenditures, ending with $37,881.29 on hand and no debt, per the Sunshine portal.

Also on the ballot in District 29

Every candidate for the State Senate and both House seats in this district. See the full District 29 page.