Mike Saville

Mike Saville: Idaho Republican Candidate for House District 28A

Mike Saville is a Republican candidate running for the Idaho House of Representatives in District 28A, which covers parts of Bannock, Franklin, and Power counties. Saville lives in McCammon and is challenging incumbent Rep. Rick Cheatum in the May 19, 2026, Republican primary. He has never held elected office. The 2026 contest is a three-way rematch of the 2024 primary, with Cheatum, James Lamborn, and Saville facing off again for the seat, according to Idaho Education News. The primary winner will face Democrat Kim Jackman in the November general election.

Background

Saville was born in Pocatello and is 81, according to Idaho Education News. After spending his early childhood with foster parents and his grandmother, he joined his father, a U.S. Air Force sergeant, at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, where he contracted polio at age 9 and spent about a year in recovery, as he described in a 2022 East Idaho News candidate Q&A. He later attended schools in Georgia and the Panama Canal Zone as a military dependent.

Saville served in the U.S. Air Force from 1962 to 1968, including three years at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, where he maintained radar systems on F-105 aircraft and worked part-time at the Armed Forces TV station, as detailed on his campaign website. After his discharge he returned to Pocatello and began a 32-year career at IBM as a field engineer, service field manager, service planner, and hardware specialist. He later worked 13 years as a financial representative for Thrivent Financial in northern Utah before retiring and building a home in McCammon with his wife, Rochelle. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix in 1996, according to his Ballotpedia profile.

Saville is a licensed amateur radio operator and a lifetime member of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, where he previously served as Utah State President and national vice president. He was a Republican voting district chairman in South Jordan, Utah, before moving to Idaho.

Political Career

Saville has never held elected office. According to Idaho Education News, which cited the Idaho Secretary of State’s elections database, Saville has run in nine elections. He sought the Idaho State Senate District 28 seat as a Democrat in 2016, 2018, and again at other cycles, and ran for House District 28A as a Democrat in 2020. He ran for the Senate as an independent in 2022 and as an independent write-in in the 2024 general. He entered the Republican primary for House District 28A in 2024 and finished third with 26.8 percent of the vote. The only races he has won were uncontested Democratic primaries.

Policy Positions

Saville’s signature position is opposition to Idaho’s $50 million private school tax credit program. He has connected that position to his experience attending segregated schools in Georgia in the 1950s, telling Idaho Education News that “privatizing education is a back door to segregation.” He supports increased K-12 public education funding and has made restoring what he calls pre-2006 per-pupil funding levels a recurring campaign theme.

On taxation, Saville has consistently argued that Idaho’s 2006 tax legislation shifted the burden from corporations and large landowners onto working families and rural school districts, as reflected in his BallotReady profile. He has called for a review of long-standing sales tax exemptions.

On campaign finance, Saville has called for contribution limits modeled on Montana’s, which he has described as a tool for reducing lobbying influence, in a 2020 East Idaho News Q&A. On healthcare, he supports protecting Medicaid expansion and access to the Affordable Care Act. On firearms, he has stated he does not support banning firearms. On vaccines, he has said his childhood polio shaped his view that immunization policy matters.

Saville has not published detailed written positions on agriculture, public lands, or immigration beyond the themes documented above.

Political Alignment

Saville’s documented positions and campaign history do not fit a standard Republican classification. He ran as a Democrat in 2016, 2018, and 2020, as an independent in 2022 and the 2024 Senate general, and as a Republican in the 2024 and 2026 House primaries. He has publicly described Idaho’s Republican Party as a “syndicate” and has specifically criticized the hardline conservative Gang of Eight. His stated positions — public education investment, corporate tax review, campaign finance reform, ACA protection, Medicaid expansion — align with Democratic policy positions by Idaho standards.

On this record, Saville is most accurately classified as a Moderate Democrat running in the Republican primary. No endorsements from Republican-aligned organizations have been identified.

Campaign and Endorsements

Idaho Sunshine campaign finance records as of March 2026 show minimal contribution and expenditure activity for Saville’s 2026 campaign. No PAC activity has been reported in support of his campaign. In 2024, a political action committee that combats political extremism, Defend and Protect Idaho, spent $3,490 to oppose James Lamborn, and two other PACs spent a combined $73,416 to oppose Cheatum, according to Idaho Education News. Ballotpedia has not identified endorsements for Saville in the 2026 race.

FAQ

Who is Mike Saville, Idaho? Mike Saville is a Republican candidate from McCammon running for the Idaho House of Representatives in District 28A. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and retired IBM engineer who has sought Idaho legislative office in multiple cycles since 2016, previously running as a Democrat and as an independent.

What district is Mike Saville running in? Mike Saville is running in Idaho House District 28A, which covers parts of Bannock, Franklin, and Power counties in southeastern Idaho.

Is Mike Saville an incumbent or challenger? Saville is a challenger. He has never held elected office. He is running against incumbent Rep. Rick Cheatum and fellow challenger James Lamborn in the May 19, 2026, Republican primary.

What are Mike Saville’s political positions? Saville supports increased state funding for public K-12 education and opposes Idaho’s private school tax credit program. He favors campaign finance reform and a review of corporate and large-landowner tax exemptions. He supports Medicaid expansion and protecting the Affordable Care Act.

Has Mike Saville run for office before? Yes. Saville has run in nine elections for the Idaho Legislature since 2016 — as a Democrat in 2016, 2018, and 2020; as an independent in 2022 and the 2024 Senate general; and as a Republican for the House in 2024. He has not won a general election.

2024 Primary Election Results (House 28A) Cheatum 2,823 / Lamborn 2,343 / Saville 1,897

2022 General Election Results (Senate 28, Independent) Guthrie 11,441 / Saville 3,614

2020 General Election Results (House 28A, Democrat) Armstrong 15,331 / Saville 7,466

2018 General Election Results (Senate 28, Democrat) Guthrie 10,174 / Saville 6,268

2016 General Election Results (Senate 28, Democrat) Guthrie 11,880 / Saville 7,404

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