Brandon Mitchell
Republican | Idaho
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
EDUCATION
Weber State University, Ogden, General, 1989-1992
BYU-Idaho, Rexburg, BS-Business, 2016-2022
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint, Several leadership roles, 2000-2026
Boy Scouts of America, Scout Master, 2006-2016
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Idaho State Legislator, 2021-2026
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Moscow, ID City Council, 2019-2019
SCORECARDS
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
2023-2024
100%
2025
100%, 87%†
2026
72%, 71%†
2023-2024
|100%
2025
|100%, 87%†
2026
|72%, 71%†
LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS
2026
|11%
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (2)
National Rifle Association NRA-PVF
Nez Perce County Republicans
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (8)
Jason Monks (2026)
Jim Risch (2025)
Russ Fulcher (2025)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2024)
State Republican Party Organizations (2024)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (31)
John Vander Woude (2026)
State Republican Party Organizations (2026)
Bruce Skaug (2024)
Charlie Shepherd (2024)
Colton Bennett (2024)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
I reject the idea of elective abortion. Life begins at conception and deserves legal protection. The only circumstance in which I support an abortion is when it is necessary to save the life of the mother, after consultation between the parents and their physician.
Human life deserves legal protection from conception until natural death.
Strongly Agree
The lives of human embryos created through artificial methods ought to be protected from purposeful destruction.
Agree
Life begins at conception, regardless of how that life is created. Embryos should not be created for the purpose of being destroyed. I support helping families facing infertility through ethical means that do not treat human embryos as disposable.
The Comstock Act, which bans interstate transportation of abortion-inducing drugs, should be enforced.
Strongly Agree
Chemical abortion drugs end a human life and carry documented risks to the woman who takes them. The Comstock Act is existing federal law and should be enforced.
ECONOMY
What is your position on the minimum wage?
Government-mandated minimum wages distort the labor market, reduce hiring of entry-level workers, and slow real wage growth. Wages should be set by the free market between employers and employees, not by politicians.
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
List your top 3-5 priorities to eliminate government waste.
1. Aggressively identify and stop fraud and improper payments. 2. Review every program to determine whether it is a legitimate function of government. 3. Scrutinize agency growth and require justification for every expansion. 4. Return functions the private sector can perform better and more efficiently. 5. Continue line-by-line budget review and rescissions of unused or unnecessary spending
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
The Constitution forbids government from establishing a state religion or compelling anyone to worship. It does not require religion to be banished from public life. Americans have the right to live out their faith, and government may not punish them for doing so.
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
No one should be forced by government to violate their sincerely held religious or moral convictions. As a small-business owner I know that freedom of conscience is not a luxury - it is a constitutional right.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
C. Medicare and Medicaid should remain for those who need the programs, but we should not create new taxpayer-funded healthcare schemes. Competition, transparency, and private options produce better outcomes than government control.
The government should keep a database of people with various ongoing medical illnesses to assess the economic burden of treatment.
Strongly Disagree
NATIONAL SECURITY
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Strongly Agree
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
Yes. Israel is a key democratic ally in a dangerous region. The partnership matters for intelligence sharing, military cooperation, and confronting common threats. We will not always agree on every decision, but a strong U.S./Israel relationship remains in America’s interest.
IMMIGRATION
I support the existence of sanctuary cities to protect undocumented persons.
Strongly Disagree
EDUCATION
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Strongly Agree
Education belongs with parents, local schools, and the states—not a federal bureaucracy. Idaho should set its own priorities for public schools, career-technical programs, and parental choice without Washington strings attached.
Foreign governments should be prohibited from funding American education.
Strongly Agree
VALUES
Government should recognize and support the fundamental right and essential duty of parents to direct their child's health and educational well-being.
Strongly Agree
Parents - not the government—have the primary right and duty to direct their children’s health and education. That principle should be protected in law.
Attempts to physically or socially transition a child to the opposite sex constitute child abuse.
Strongly Agree
Children cannot consent to irreversible medical or social experiments. Adults who push a child toward the opposite sex are not providing care; they are causing harm. Parents and the state have a duty to protect minors from that.
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Strongly Agree
I support the expansion of gambling in my state.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a Christian. My faith in Jesus Christ shapes how I treat people, keep my word, and serve. Faith, family, and hard work are the values I was raised with and still try to live by. I believe every person is made in the image of God and that government exists to protect God-given rights, not to replace family, church, or personal responsibility.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
Photo ID should be required to vote. I have carried voter ID legislation in the Idaho House, including free state IDs so no eligible voter is left out and tighter rules so an affidavit cannot replace real identification. Voting is too important to rely on an honor system.
EQUALITY
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
Government should treat every citizen equally under the law. Paying people - or penalizing people - because of race is the opposite of equal protection. We should judge individuals by their character and conduct, not by ancestry.
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Strongly Agree
Sex is biological. Men do not belong in women’s sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, shelters, or prisons. Those spaces exist to protect women’s safety, privacy, and fair competition.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Man-made climate change is a global threat and requires urgent political action.
Disagree
The climate changes. That does not justify panic-driven energy policy that raises costs and weakens the grid. Idaho should steward its land and water while keeping energy abundant, reliable, and affordable.
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
Nuclear and hydropower, backed by natural gas. Those sources are dispatchable and can run when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. Reliability has to come before ideology.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
I am a conservative. I believe in limited government, the Constitution, the right to life, parental rights, election integrity, and a strong economy built by private enterprise - not by Boise or Washington D.C.
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
What should be the goal of the criminal justice system?
The first duty of the criminal justice system is to protect the innocent and hold the guilty accountable. That means enforcing the law, supporting victims, and keeping violent and repeat offenders off the streets. Rehabilitation can follow for those who earn it. Public safety is not optional.
Government has a responsibility to protect children from sexual exploitation during online activities.
Strongly Agree
Sharia law should not be accepted or incorporated in any form within the legal framework of the United States.
Strongly Agree
The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. No foreign legal system, including Sharia, should be imported into American courts or public policy.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
The Second Amendment protects a pre-existing right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. Public safety is served by enforcing current law against violent criminals and those already barred from possessing firearms - not by new restrictions on honest Idahoans. I will not support magazine bans, assault-weapon bans, or permitting schemes that treat responsible gun owners as the problem.
