2022 Idaho Attorney General election

The 2022 Idaho Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of Idaho. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sought a sixth term in office,^[1] but was defeated in the Republican primary on May 17.^[2] Former Republican congressman Raúl Labrador won the general election, defeating Democratic candidate Tom Arkoosh.

2022 Idaho Attorney General election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →

Nominee Raúl Labrador Tom Arkoosh Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 367,579 219,401 Percentage 62.62% 37.38%

County results Congressional district results Labrador:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Arkoosh:      50–60%      70–80%

Attorney General before election Lawrence Wasden Republican Elected Attorney General Raúl Labrador Republican

Although Labrador comfortably won, with a victory margin of only 25.24%, this was the weakest performance by a Republican, and the strongest performance a Democrat performed since 2014. This was also the first time since 2002 Ada county voted for the Democratic candidate, as well as the first time since 1990 Latah county voted for the Democratic candidate in an attorney general election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

• Raúl Labrador, U.S. Representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district (2011–2019) and candidate for governor in 2018^[3]

Eliminated in primary

• Arthur Macomber, attorney^[4]
• Lawrence Wasden, incumbent attorney general^[1]

Failed to file

• Dennis Boyles, attorney^[5]

Endorsements

Raúl Labrador

Executive branch officials

• Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State (2018–2021), former Director of the CIA (2017–2018), former U.S. Representative from Kansas's 4th congressional district (2011–2017)^[6]

U.S. Senators

• Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas (2013–present) and candidate for president in 2016^[7]

Organizations

• Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)^[8]
• Conservatives of Idaho^[9]

Lawerence Wasden

U.S. Representatives

• Mike Simpson, U.S. Representative from Idaho's 2nd congressional district (1999–)^[10]

Governors

• Phil Batt, former governor of Idaho (1995–1999)^[10]
• Dirk Kempthorne, former governor of Idaho (1999–2006)^[10]
• Brad Little, Governor of Idaho (2019–)^[10]
• C.L. "Butch" Otter, former governor of Idaho (2007–2019)^[10]

Attorneys general

• Jim Jones, former attorney general of Idaho (1983–1991), former justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005–2017)^[10]

Organizations

• NRA Political Victory Fund^[11][10]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Raul Labrador	Art Macomber	Lawrence Wasden	Undecided
Remington Research Group (R)[12]	May 2–3, 2022	1,033 (LV)	± 3.0%	43%	6%	34%	17%
Zoldak Research (R)[13]	April 9–12, 2022	549 (LV)	± 4.0%	36%	4%	33%	27%
WPA Intelligence (R)[14][A]	March 7–9, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	35%	2%	14%	49%

Results

Results by county

  Labrador

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Wasden

•   40–50%
•   50–60%

Republican primary results^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Raúl Labrador	140,576	51.6
	Republican	Lawrence Wasden (incumbent)	103,390	37.9
	Republican	Arthur Macomber	28,757	10.5
Total votes			272,723	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Replacement nominee

• Tom Arkoosh, attorney

Withdrew after nomination

• Steven Scanlin,^[16] attorney^[17]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steven Scanlin	31,620	100.0
Total votes			31,620	100.0

On July 18, Scanlin withdrew from the race. Boise attorney Tom Arkoosh took his place on the general election ballot for November.^[18]

General election

Debate

2022 Idaho Attorney General debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Raúl Labrador	Tom Arkoosh
1	Oct. 25, 2022	Boise State University School of Public Service Idaho Press Club Idaho State University Department of Public Service League of Women Voters University of Idaho McClure Center for Public Policy Research	Melissa Davlin	YouTube	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19]	Lean R	November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[20]	Safe R	November 1, 2022

Endorsements

Raúl Labrador

Executive branch officials

• Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State (2018–2021), former Director of the CIA (2017–2018), former U.S. Representative from Kansas's 4th congressional district (2011–2017)^[6]

U.S. Senators

• Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas (2013–present) and candidate for President in 2016^[7]

State officials

• David Leroy, former Lieutenant Governor of Idaho (1983–1987) and former Idaho Attorney General (1979–1983)^[21]

Organizations

• Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)^[8]
• Conservatives of Idaho^[9]

Tom Arkoosh

State officials

• Phil Batt, former Governor of Idaho (1995–1999) (Republican)^[22]
• Jerry Evans, former Superintendent of Public Instruction (1979–1995) (Republican)^[22]
• Dave High, former deputy Idaho Attorney General^[22]
• Jim Jones, former attorney general of Idaho (1983–1991), former justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005–2017) (Republican)^[23]
• Lydia Justice-Edwards, former Treasurer of Idaho (1987–1999) (Republican)^[24][23]
• W. Anthony Park, former Idaho Attorney General (1971–1975)^[24][23]
• Ben Ysursa, former Idaho Secretary of State (2003–2015) (Republican)^[24][23]

State legislators

• Pam Ahrens, former state representative (Republican)^[22]
• Max Black, former state representative (1993–2012) (Republican)^[22]
• Cherie Buckner-Webb, former state senator (2012–2020)^[24][23]
• Charles Coiner, former state senator (2004–2010) (Republican)^[22]
• Judi Danielson, former Republican state senator (1995–2001) (Independent)^[24][23]
• Denton Darrington, former state senator (1982–2012) (Republican)^[22]
• Jerry Deckard, former state representative (Republican)^[22]
• Bob Fry, former state representative (Republican)^[22]
• Cindy Haagenson, former state representative (Republican)^[22]
• Dean Haagenson, former state representative (Republican)^[22]
• Patti Anne Lodge, state senator for Idaho's 11th legislative district (Republican)^[22]
• Fred Martin, state senator for Idaho's 15th legislative district (Republican)^[22]
• Beverly Montgomery, former state representative (1998–2002) (Republican)^[22]
• Kathleen Noh, former state senator^[22]
• Laird Noh, former state senator^[22]
• Bill Ringert, former state senator (1982–1988) (Republican)^[22]
• Joe Stegner, former state senator (1998–2011)^[22]
• Scott Syme, seat A representative for Idaho's 11th legislative district (Republican)^[22]
• Rich Wills, former state representative (2012–2016) (Republican)^[22]
• Fred Wood, seat B representative for Idaho's 27th legislative district (Republican)^[22]

Organizations

• Idaho Education Association^[25]

Individuals

• Lori Otter, former First Lady of Idaho (2007–2019) (Republican)^[22]
• Eric Peterson, former chair of the Nez Perce County Republicans (Republican)^[22]
• Gary Raney, former Ada County sheriff (Republican)^[22]

Results

Idaho Attorney General election, 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Raúl Labrador	367,579	62.6%
	Democratic	Tom Arkoosh	219,405	37.4%
Total votes			586,984	100%
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Labrador won both congressional districts.^[26]

District	Labrador	Arkoosh	Representative
1st	69%	31%	Russ Fulcher
2nd	56%	44%	Mike Simpson

See also

• Idaho Attorney General

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by Club for Growth Action