Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson: Idaho Independent Candidate for Senate District 1

Steve Johnson has lived on the same Sagle farm since he was eight years old. The retired educator and small-business owner is making his third run for the Idaho Senate District 1 seat. This time he is on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot as an Independent, facing Republican Scott Herndon, who defeated incumbent Jim Woodward in the May 19 primary.

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. His early work 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 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. 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 Sandpoint Reader. His 2022 write-in effort drew 9,025 votes to Herndon's 13,064 districtwide. In Bonner County alone, Herndon drew 9,825 votes to Johnson's 7,409, a margin Bonner County Clerk Mike Rosedale called “the most effective write-in race I have ever seen.”

In 2024, Johnson filed for the District 1 Senate seat as an Independent but withdrew on June 10 to instead seek the Bonner County District 1 commissioner seat, per the Sandpoint Reader. He lost that race to Republican incumbent Brian Domke, receiving 8,428 votes to Domke's 20,127, according to the Sandpoint Reader's election results coverage.

In 2026, Johnson again filed for the District 1 Senate seat as an Independent. As an Independent he did not appear on the May 19 primary ballot and advanced directly to the general election. Scott Herndon won the Republican primary 8,155 to 7,075 over incumbent Jim Woodward, per the Idaho Secretary of State. Johnson will face Herndon on November 3, 2026.

Policy positions

Johnson has articulated consistent positions across his campaigns. 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 be a liaison or intermediary between Democratic and Republican caucuses to make government work, stating: “This polarization, especially if each side is not willing to compromise, is terrible for government.”

The November matchup

The general election contest features Johnson, running without party affiliation, against Herndon, a Republican who held the District 1 Senate seat from December 2022 to November 2024, then lost the seat to Jim Woodward before winning re-nomination by defeating Woodward again in the 2026 primary.

Sources

Ballot status and certified primary results from the Idaho Secretary of State. Biographical detail, campaign history and quotations from the Sandpoint Reader: 2022 candidate interview, 2022 write-in campaign announcement, 2022 election results, 2024 commissioner bid announcement, and 2024 election results.