Citizens Alliance of Idaho just published its 2026 Idaho State Legislature General Election endorsement list on there various social media accounts. The message is straightforward: if you want CAI’s backing for November, you sign The Pledge as a commitment to your constituents, and if you are already in office, you stay in Good Standing with it.
Candidates are asked to put their names on a written set of constitutionally based values commitments. Incumbents who signed do not get a free ride by just having signed it in the past. They have to remain in Good Standing under CAI’s standings system. Only then do they earn the endorsement.
CAI’s newly published list names 45 candidates and incumbents across legislative districts statewide. Nine districts are marked as diamond districts, meaning all three seats (Senate and both House seats) are filled by Pledge signers on the sheet: Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, and 26. The full roster, district by district, is in the PDF embedded below.
The Pledge is a set of ten commitments inspired by the Idaho State Constitution’s Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. Signers commit to vote for self-defense rights, individual medical freedom and privacy, election integrity, and expanding education freedom. They also commit not to suppress speech or peaceful assembly, and not to vote against bills that protect the life and innocence of children, among other points spelled out on the site.
CAI scores signers with a stoplight system. Good Standing means the legislator is upholding the agreement. Bad Standing are loaded those who don’t have the political courage to sign or refuse to sign outright because they don’t share the values within. There is also Questionable Standing which flags those drifting away from their commitment. Good Standing is reserved for people who signed and then voted like it.
In the run-up to the 2022 election cycle, after CAI’s first legislative since its founding several months earlier, only 18 members of the Legislature were in Good Standing with the Pledge. Five years since its establishment in 2021, Citizens Alliance of Idaho now 42 of Idaho’s 105 legislators committed to upholding the shared values of their constituents by being in Good Standing with The Pledge.
That is real growth and has produced the most conservative legislation sent to an Idaho Governor’s desk in more than a generation. Idaho has been making national headlines for signature legislation. Whether it’s protecting children in schools from trans ideology, protecting medical freedom and privacy with the Idaho Medical Freedom Act, or protecting the lives of the unborn immediately after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Idaho is proving one of our slogans true more and more each day – Idaho is what America was.
Look at the 2026 general list and the pattern continues. North Idaho Diamond Districts stack conservative names like Scott Herndon, Heather Scott, Jordan Redman, Ben Toews, and Tony Wisniewski. District 13 is a full Diamond with Senator Brian Lenney, Rep. Brent Crane, and Rep. Steve Tanner. Fresh names such as Bella Tate, Lyle Johnston and Bryan Hyde in District 26 seek to overturn the entire district from non-signer to full Diamond. While veterans such as Barbara Ehardt in District 33, Christy Zito in 8, and Jason Monks in 22, look to continue their work for the good folks of Idaho.
The same document also carries CAI’s recommendation of a NO vote on Proposition 1, arguing the measure would weaken parental consent, change viability standards, and raise risks for women’s health and life. That fight runs parallel and needs all hands on deck to ensure the right outcome for the people of Idaho.
Read the commitments yourself at IdahoPledge.com. Download the full 2026 endorsement PDF above. Then ask the only question that matters in a constitutional republic: will your lawmaker put it in writing and keep it?
Full disclosure: Idaho Signal is a project of Citizens Alliance of Idaho.