Mirna Pleines

Mirna Pleines: Idaho Democratic Candidate for House District 5, Seat A

Mirna Pleines is a Democratic candidate for Idaho House of Representatives District 5, Seat A, covering Post Falls and surrounding Kootenai County communities. She is challenging incumbent Republican Ron Mendive in the 2026 election cycle. Pleines is a first-time candidate with no prior record of elected office. She lives in Coeur d’Alene and campaigns on healthcare access, veterans’ services, and working family economic issues.

Background

Mirna Pleines has lived in Coeur d’Alene since 2002, as noted on her campaign website. She attended Gonzaga University as an adult student, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, and was named to the Gonzaga University President’s List in Fall 2014. She later earned a Master of Jurisprudence in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Her professional background is in healthcare compliance. She previously served as Risk, Compliance, and Privacy Officer at a Critical Access Hospital in Idaho. She currently works as a Senior Compliance Professional at a healthcare organization, where she oversees physician practice compliance with federal standards.

Pleines serves on the Spokane-Cagli Sister City Board and completed Leadership Spokane’s Class of 2024, a regional leadership development program. Her husband served twenty years in the United States Air Force and lives with service-connected disabilities.

Political Career

Mirna Pleines has never held elected office. This is her first campaign for public office.

Policy Positions

Pleines has identified rural healthcare access, women’s health, veterans’ services, working family economics, education, and public lands as her primary issues. On healthcare, she has drawn directly on her professional experience, stating on her campaign website that she saw state legislation limit care access and restrict what providers could offer at the Critical Access Hospital where she worked. She has cited the departure of OB/GYN physicians from Idaho following state restrictions on women’s healthcare as a patient safety concern, writing that it “is not a political talking point. It is a patient safety crisis.” She has called for protecting Critical Access Hospital funding and expanding telehealth access.

On veterans, Pleines has tied her position to her family’s personal experience, noting that her husband lives with service-connected disabilities and that veterans “deserve benefits, behavioral health support, and leaders who show up.” On housing and wages, she has cited her own experience as a single mother who raised two daughters earning $17 an hour, arguing that wages have not kept pace with the cost of living in North Idaho. On public lands, she has stated opposition to rollbacks of federal land protections and called for keeping Idaho’s forests, lakes, and waterways intact for future generations. On education, she has pointed to her own experience returning to school as an adult as evidence that education access can transform outcomes.

Political Alignment

Pleines’s documented positions on rural healthcare access, women’s reproductive healthcare, veterans’ services, affordable housing, wage growth, public lands protection, and education funding are consistent with a Liberal Democrat classification. Her emphasis on rural and working-class economic concerns and Critical Access Hospital funding reflects priorities shaped by her professional background in rural healthcare compliance. No documented affiliations with progressive activist organizations were identified.

Campaign and Endorsements

Pleines is running under the campaign name Mirna for Idaho, with a website at mirnaforidaho.vote and a Facebook page. Her campaign is organized under the committee name Mirna for Idaho, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 261, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814. No formal organizational endorsements have been publicly reported as of April 2026.

FAQs

Who is Mirna Pleines? Mirna Pleines is a Democratic candidate for Idaho House of Representatives District 5, Seat A in 2026. She is a healthcare compliance professional and Coeur d’Alene resident challenging incumbent Republican Ron Mendive.

What district is Mirna Pleines running in? Pleines is running in Idaho House District 5, Seat A, which covers Post Falls and surrounding communities in Kootenai County.

Is Mirna Pleines an incumbent or challenger? She is a challenger. She has never held elected office.

What are Mirna Pleines’s political positions? Her documented positions include protecting rural hospital funding, opposing state restrictions on women’s healthcare, supporting veterans’ services and benefits, addressing housing affordability and wage growth, and protecting federal public lands.