Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson: Idaho Independent Candidate for Senate District 1

Steve Johnson is an Independent candidate for Idaho State Senate District 1, which encompasses most of Bonner County and all of Boundary County in northern Idaho. Johnson lives in Sagle and is a challenger in the November 3, 2026, general election. As an Independent, he does not appear on the May 19 primary ballot and advances directly to the general election, where he will face the winner of the Republican primary between incumbent Sen. Jim Woodward and challenger Scott Herndon.

Background

Johnson was born in 1949 in Longview, Washington. His family moved to a farm in Sagle in 1957, where he has lived ever since, as he described to the Sandpoint Reader in 2022. He graduated from Sandpoint High School and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho in 1972 and a graduate degree in 1988, per his Ballotpedia profile. His early work history included stints as a railroad laborer, farmhand, small-scale logger, and rancher. He spent most of a 42-year education career within District 1, working as an elementary and high school teacher and eventually as a principal. He has also owned and operated several small businesses and continues to work on the family farm. He is a past member of the East Bonner County Library Board and the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, as noted by the Sandpoint Reader. He and his wife Marguerite raised four children on the Sagle property.

Political Career

Johnson has never held elected office. He first entered the 2022 election cycle as a Democratic candidate for the House District 1A seat, then withdrew to register as an Independent write-in candidate for the District 1 Senate seat against Republican nominee Scott Herndon, as reported by the Bonners Ferry Herald. His 2022 write-in effort drew 9,025 votes to Herndon's 13,064 statewide. In Bonner County alone, Herndon drew 9,825 votes to Johnson's 7,409, as reported by the Sandpoint Reader, a result the Bonner County clerk described as the most effective write-in campaign he had ever seen. In 2024, Johnson filed for the District 1 Senate seat as an Independent but withdrew before the general election to instead seek the Bonner County District 1 commissioner seat as a Democrat, per the Sandpoint Reader. He lost that race to Republican incumbent Brian Domke, receiving 8,428 votes to Domke's 20,127. In 2026, Johnson again filed for the District 1 Senate seat as an Independent, per Ballotpedia. He will face the winner of the Republican primary in the November general election.

Policy Positions

Johnson has articulated consistent positions across his campaigns and a 2022 Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. On taxation, he supports doubling the homeowner's exemption to $250,000 to help Idaho property owners remain in their homes amid rising costs. On education, he has consistently supported full public school funding and has opposed redirecting money away from public schools. He has cited workforce training pathways in trades, healthcare, and technology fields as priorities. In his 2022 Senate campaign, he told the Sandpoint Reader that his top priorities were affordable property taxes, quality education, and preservation of the rural lifestyle of northern Idaho. On public lands and growth, Johnson has expressed support for preserving open spaces and the rural character of Bonner and Boundary counties. In his 2024 commissioner campaign, he described rising cost of living, planned growth, and affordable housing as the three most significant challenges facing Bonner County. He has expressed support for Medicaid access and has included explicit support for public libraries, public schools, law enforcement, firefighters, and hospitals in his campaign materials. On the role of partisanship, Johnson told the Sandpoint Reader in 2022 that if elected as an Independent he would aim to move between Democratic and Republican caucuses as an intermediary, stating: "This polarization, especially if each side is not willing to compromise, is terrible for government."

Political Alignment

Johnson is classified as Moderate / Independent. He has run under three different party affiliations in four years and his stated policy positions do not align consistently with either major party. He supports conservative fiscal policy and property tax relief while also supporting Medicaid, full public school funding, and personal freedoms on social issues. His campaigns have explicitly sought cross-partisan support, and he has framed his candidacy in each cycle as a community-values alternative to ideologically driven Republican candidates. No endorsements from ideological organizations on either side have been documented in connection with his Senate campaigns.

Campaign and Endorsements

No organizational endorsements have been publicly reported in connection with Johnson's 2026 Senate campaign as of April 2026. In his 2022 Senate write-in campaign, Johnson told reporters he sought support from Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters, though no formal endorsements from named organizations were documented in available coverage. Campaign finance records are available through the Idaho Secretary of State's Sunshine database.