Vito Barbieri

James Vito Barbieri II (born October 22, 1951)^[3] is an American politician and lawyer from Idaho. He is a Republican Idaho State Representative since 2010 representing District 3 in the A seat.^[4]

Vito Barbieri
Member of the Idaho House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2010 Serving with Jordan Redman
Preceded by	Jim Clark
Constituency	3rd district Seat A (2010-2012) 2nd district Seat A (2012-2022) 3rd district Seat A (2022-present)
Personal details
Born	James Vito Barbieri II[1] (1951-10-22) October 22, 1951 (age 73) San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Joy
Children	3
Residence	Dalton Gardens, Idaho
Education	El Camino College (AA) Western State College of Law (BS, JD)[2]
Website	vitobarbieri.com

Early life, education, and career

Barbieri earned his associate degree from El Camino College and his bachelor's degree and J.D. from Western State College of Law.^[5][6][7]

He practiced law in California for 20 years.^[6] Since moving to Idaho in 2004, he has operated several small businessess, including a catering business and owns an electronic cigarette store in Post Falls.^[6]

Idaho House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Business Committee (chairman)
• Local Government Committee
• State Affairs Committee

Barbieri previously served on the Revenue and Taxation Committee from 2010 to 2012.

Elections

District 3 House Seat A - Part of Kootenai County

Year	Candidate	Votes	Pct	Candidate	Votes	Pct	Candidate	Votes	Pct	Candidate	Votes	Pct
2010 Primary[8]	Vito Barbieri	2,047	39.4%	Duane Rasmussen	1,298	25.0%	Jeri DeLange	1,057	20.3%	Fred Meckel	794	15.3%
2010 General[9]	Vito Barbieri	12,168	100%

District 2 House Seat A - Part of Kootenai County

Year	Candidate	Votes	Pct	Candidate	Votes	Pct
2012 Primary[10]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	3,147	57.0%	Mark Fisher	2,373	43.0%
2012 General[11]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	14,142	65.7%	Cheryl Stransky	7,371	34.3%
2014 Primary[12]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	3,253	67.5%	Fritz Wiedenhoff	1,568	32.5%
2014 General[13]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	9,470	65.9%	Cheryl Stransky	4,901	34.1%
2016 Primary[14]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	3,250	67.9%	Fritz Wiedenhoff	1,539	32.1%
2016 General[15]	Vito Barbieri (incumbent)	17,115	72.2%	Kathy Kraack Kahn	6,581	27.8%

On November 23, 2020, Barbieri announced that he would run for Idaho House of Representatives assistant majority leader against Jason Monks.^[16]

Controversies

Barbieri came to national attention on February 23, 2015, after asking a doctor giving testimony if a woman could swallow a camera in order to undergo a remote gynecological exam and received the answer that such was not possible as swallowing a pill will not lead it to the vagina. In response to commentary on social media about the seeming anatomical confusion, he explained his remarks: "I was being rhetorical, because I was trying to make the point that equalizing a colonoscopy to this particular procedure was apples and oranges... So I was asking a rhetorical question that was designed to make her say that they weren't the same thing, and she did so. It was the response I wanted."^[17][18]

However, upon receiving the explanation from the testifying doctor, Barbieri's response was, "Fascinating". The exchange included Barbieri's question: "Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor to determine what the situation is?" Dr. Julie Madsen, MD responded: "Mr. Chairman and Representative, it cannot be done in pregnancy simply because when you swallow a pill it would not end up in the vagina." Barbieri replied, "Fascinating. That certainly makes sense."^[19][20]