Keeley and the School Levy Win, but Prop 1 Fails Statewide Despite Teton's Yes Vote

DRIGGS — Teton County voters passed School District 401's supplemental levy, elected Kim Keeley to the county commission and backed Prop 1 with 65.91% of the vote in unofficial results from the Nov. 3 election. It trailed statewide.

The county counted 6,201 ballots from 7,922 registered voters, with all seven precincts reporting. Northeast Central had the highest turnout at 84%. Victor had the lowest at 75%.

The levy passed 3,821 to 2,240, or 63.04%. It authorizes the district's $7,090,000 a year for two years, from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2029, with $6,790,000 of each year for salaries and benefits. The ballot estimated the cost at $103 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value a year. It replaces a levy that expires June 30, 2027, and costs $72 per $100,000.

Keeley (D) defeated Commissioner Brad Wolfe (R) for the District 1 seat, 3,792 to 2,330 (61.94% to 38.06%). Keeley has been the county clerk. Bevin Taylor (D) ran unopposed for the office, which the ballot lists as clerk of the district court, and received 4,447 votes.

Four other county candidates ran unopposed: Daniel Powers for the District 2 commission seat (4,510 votes), Liz Card for treasurer (4,454), Havala Arnold for assessor (4,298) and Theresa Lerch for coroner (4,607). Between 1,594 and 1,903 voters left each of those races blank.

Prop 1, the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act, carried Teton County 4,055 to 2,097. A yes vote would create a right to abortion before fetal viability, and after it in cases of medical emergency, according to the ballot. Statewide, 404,827 voters (55.94%) voted no and 318,822 (44.06%) voted yes, in the unofficial count the Idaho Secretary of State posted Nov. 4. The Associated Press called Prop 1's defeat at 12:35 a.m. Nov. 4, the Idaho Capital Sun reported; the count is official once the state canvasses it, by Nov. 24. Teton's yes share was second only to Blaine County's among Idaho's 44 counties.

Tetonia was the one precinct of seven where the levy lost, 545 to 519, and the one where Prop 1 lost, 556 to 518. It was also the only precinct Wolfe carried, 585 to 477.

Teton County voted 4,548 to 1,520 (74.95%) against House Joint Resolution 4, a constitutional amendment that would give only the Legislature the power to legalize marijuana, narcotics or other psychoactive substances, removing the citizen initiative on them. It trailed statewide, with 66.27% voting no.

House Joint Resolution 6, which would make English the official state language in the Idaho Constitution with an exception for federal law, lost in Teton County 3,375 to 2,651 (56.01% no). It led statewide, with 63.17% voting yes.

On the non-binding advisory question asking which gun Idaho should designate as its official state gun, the Winchester Model 1873, listed on the ballot as the "Gun that Won the West," led both in Teton County, with 1,222 votes (30.78%), and statewide, with 31.10%. In Teton County, 2,226 voters left the question blank.

Mark Harris (R), Mike Veile (R) and Joshua D. Wheeler (R) led in the unofficial count for re-election to District 35's three legislative seats. Harris led Marty Rotz Kilhefner (D) for the Senate seat 15,042 to 6,447. In the House, Veile led Walter Boyd (D) 14,838 to 6,553 for Seat A, and Wheeler led Mary Kaufman (D) 14,863 to 6,480 for Seat B. Teton County was the only one of the district's five counties where the Democrats led, with Kilhefner at 3,553 to 2,474, Boyd at 3,571 to 2,447 and Kaufman at 3,528 to 2,469.

Teton County's results are unofficial until the county commissioners canvass them. The county's totals by race and precinct are on the state results site.

What to watch: State law requires the commissioners to canvass the results within nine days of the election, by Nov. 12. Wolfe's District 1 term expires Jan. 11, 2027, according to the county.