The 2020 United States Senate election in Idaho was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Idaho, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Republican senator Jim Risch won reelection to a third term in office, defeating Democratic nominee Paulette Jordan, who, percentage wise, had the worst performance of a Democratic senatorial candidate for this seat since 2002. However, Risch also performed nearly three points worse than he did when he was reelected in 2014, and he slightly underperformed incumbent president Donald Trump's performance in the concurrent presidential election.
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Jim Risch, incumbent U.S. senator
Results
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Paulette Jordan, former state representative and nominee for governor of Idaho in 2018Jennifer Bendery. "Idaho Democrat Paulette Jordan Is Running For Senate", HuffPost, February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
Eliminated in primary James Vandermaas, former law enforcement officer and candidate for in 2018
Withdrawn Nancy Harris, businesswoman (endorsed Jordan) Travis Oler, farmer and U.S. Army veteran (ran for state house) (endorsed Vandermaas)
Declined A.J. Balukoff, Boise School District board member, nominee for governor of Idaho in 2014, and candidate for governor of Idaho in 2018 (endorsed Vandermaas) Mark Nye, state senator Michelle Stennett, minority leader of the Idaho Senate
Endorsements
Results
Other candidates Constitution Party Nominee Ray Writz
Independents Declared Natalie Fleming, software developer
General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report October 29, 2020 Inside Elections October 28, 2020 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 2, 2020Daily Kos October 30, 2020PoliticoNovember 2, 2020RCPOctober 23, 2020DDHQNovember 3, 2020538November 2, 2020EconomistNovember 2, 2020
Endorsements
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin JimRisch (R) PauletteJordan (D) Other UndecidedAugust 29 – September 1, 2020600 (LV)± 4.0%53%28%8%11%
Results
By county CountyJim RischRepublicanPaulette JordanDemocraticNatalie FlemingIndependentRay WritzConstitutionMarginTotalvotes#%#%#%#%#%Ada130,44650.56118,71846.016,9402.691,9100.7411,7284.55258,014Adams1,82871.3862524.40622.42461.801,20346.972,561Bannock22,04855.9415,47239.261,4333.644601.176,57616.6839,413Bear Lake2,79184.5535510.75912.76641.942,43673.803,301Benewah3,58473.551,08122.181032.111052.152,50351.364,873Bingham14,64473.834,31321.746253.152531.2710,33152.0819,835Blaine4,22631.768,73965.672882.16540.41-4,513-33.9113,307Boise3,32369.361,24726.031282.67931.942,07643.334,791Bonner17,96466.488,07929.906012.223771.399,88536.5827,021Bonneville36,49068.8113,91326.241,9723.726531.2322,57742.5853,028Boundary4,80076.701,21219.371312.091151.843,58857.336,258Butte1,12079.4322215.74392.77292.0689863.691,410Camas48872.3015623.11172.52142.0733249.19675Canyon59,06065.9226,60326.692,5502.851,3841.5432,45736.2389,597Caribou2,60381.4544213.83973.03541.692,16167.623,196Cassia7,56478.911,50815.733223.361922.006,05663.189,586Clark25481.674213.50123.8630.9621268.17311Clearwater3,35776.6688320.161042.38350.802,47456.504,379Custer1,97873.0460322.27742.73531.961,37550.772,708Elmore6,79767.172,81427.813173.131911.893,98339.3610,119Franklin5,67885.855858.842173.281342.035,09377.006,614Fremont5,39180.391,00114.932053.061091.624,39065.466,706Gem7,54676.131,95719.742682.701411.425,58956.399,912Gooding4,44273.561,33522.111863.08761.263,10751.456,039Idaho7,62980.471,53216.162142.261061.126,09764.319,481Jefferson11,70283.191,64711.714813.422361.6810,05571.4814,066Jerome5,45069.981,97825.402493.201111.423,47244.587,788Kootenai61,28969.6822,94526.092,5382.891,1831.3438,34443.5987,955Latah9,50146.1410,37350.375322.581870.91-872-4.2320,593Lemhi3,49774.371,02021.691413.00440.942,47752.684,702Lewis1,42076.8435719.32382.06331.791,06357.521,848Lincoln1,37171.0047024.34713.68190.9890146.661,931Madison13,51779.792,28813.517834.623532.0811,22966.2816,941Minidoka5,93074.841,58720.033073.88991.254,34354.817,923Nez Perce13,48764.736,51031.246843.281550.746,97733.4920,836Oneida2,03984.4725310.48682.82542.241,78673.992,414Owyhee3,64376.8491019.191062.24821.732,73357.654,741Payette8,48875.562,30820.553062.721311.176,18055.0211,233Power2,05367.2087628.67912.98351.151,17738.533,055Shoshone3,90465.851,74729.461813.05971.642,15736.385,929Teton2,83744.963,25151.521802.85420.67-414-6.566,310Twin Falls24,35567.589,77627.121,3183.665911.6414,57940.4536,040Valley3,86254.892,98442.411552.20350.5087812.487,036Washington4,05075.691,14721.431041.94500.932,90354.255,351 Totals538,44662.62285,86433.2525,3292.9510,1881.18252,58229.38859,827 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Latah (largest municipality: Moscow) Teton (largest municipality: Victor)
By congressional district Risch won both congressional districts.
District Risch Jordan Representative 66% 30%Russ Fulcher 59% 37%Mike Simpson
See also 2020 Idaho elections
Notes Partisan clients
References
External links
(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Official campaign websites Natalie Fleming (I) for Senate Paulette Jordan (D) for Senate Jim Risch (R) for Senate Ray Writz (C) for Senate