Scott Syme
District 9 Senate
Scott Syme, a fifth-generation Idahoan and U.S. Army veteran, has a connection to District 9 with over 150 years of family history in the community. He was born, raised, and educated in Idaho: raised on a farm near Weiser and graduated from the College of Idaho with a B.A. in Business Administration. Syme’s community involvement includes serving as the Chairman of the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce and the President of the God and Country Family Festival for two years. He operates a small real estate business in Caldwell as well as a 43-acre farm. With a 32-year military career that included two tours in Iraq, where he was Advisor to the Iraqi Police, Colonel Syme was awarded the Bronze Star for his service.
He was elected to the Idaho State House of Representatives District 11 Seat A in 2016-2022 for three terms. This former Idaho legislator is running for his first term in Idaho State Senate District 9.
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In separate phone interviews, both candidates expressed concerns about taking money for public education and using it to fund private schools or homeschooling, a popular idea among groups advocating for “school choice,” such as the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
“It takes money away from the public school system,” including from public charter schools, Syme said. “We have great choice right now. We have charter schools. We have traditional public schools. They are all trying to be the school of choice.”
Scott Syme is a reasonable Republican, an Idaho native, an Army veteran, and a tried and tested state legislator with three terms of experience in the Idaho House of Representatives...
When asked about his greatest accomplishment as a legislator, he gave an interesting answer. He said he was most proud of making sure the lowest-paid state employees received larger raises than nominal cost-of-living percentage raises. He opposes schemes to provide tax credits or vouchers for private schools, saying such efforts would hurt Idaho’s smaller, rural schools. He supports the Idaho Launch scholarship program and, when he was on the Idaho Workforce Development Council, he was an early proponent of guardrails to ensure such scholarships went to students seeking careers for in-demand jobs.
Scott Syme, the former state representative, announced last week that he will run for District 9’s Senate seat.
“It seems like we’ve shifted away from traditional Idaho values that have made the state great for people to want to live here,” Syme told the Idaho Press, referring to a recent Boise State University study in which a majority of people said the state was headed in the wrong direction.
“I want to bring back Idaho values,” he said. “You could say I want to make Idaho great again.”
Idaho Republican Senate candidate Scott Syme interviews with the Idaho Statesman editorial board for the upcoming Republican primary for District 9.
Veterans for Idaho Voters is a cross-partisan and independent group of Idaho military veterans committed to fair elections, citizen initiatives, civil politics and sensible policies. We are one of the coalition partners supporting the Open Primaries Initiative.
Scott A. Syme Collection (AFC/2001/001/66171), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
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