Simpson, Fulcher retain Idaho House seats; Republican Jim Risch retains Idaho Senate seat

FILE - In this June 29, 2020 file photo Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho (left) listens to testimony, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Fulcher was elected to serve seeking a second term in the 1st Congressional District, last held by a Democrat in 2011. (Bonnie Cash/Pool via AP,File) FILE - This Oct. 24, 2012 file photo shows Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho (right) in Boise, Idaho. Simpson has swept aside challenges from within his own party and Democratic challengers to retain his seat in Congress representing the state's 2nd Congressional District for more than two decades. The 70-year-old Simpson did so again on Tuesday in red-state Idaho. (AP Photo/John Miller, File)(Bonnie Cash|John Miller | AP)

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher have retained their seats in Congress. Simpson will serve a 12th term representing the 2nd Congressional District in eastern Idaho after defeating Democrat Aaron Swisher on Tuesday. Fulcher will serve a second term representing the 1st Congressional District in western Idaho after defeating Democrat Rudy Soto.

Republicans have long dominated red-state Idaho, where Simpson and Fulcher turned aside their challengers. Simpson has brought millions of federal dollars to the state for the Idaho National Laboratory, one of the nation’s primary nuclear research labs. Fulcher and Simpson have both voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch has been reelected to Congress, defeating Democratic challenger Paulette Jordan. Risch, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has served in the Senate since 2008, when he was elected to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Larry Craig.

An avid supporter of President Donald Trump, Risch was widely expected to win the race in the heavily conservative state of Idaho. Jordan, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and a former state legislator, first gained national attention in 2018 when she unsuccessfully ran for Idaho governor against then-Lt. Gov. Brad Little.

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