← Election Series · All statewide races

Our verdict

LiberalMind endorses Julie Ellsworth

Update — October 25, 2026: The first edition of this article described this as a thin-record race — the challenger's file "essentially empty," a dedicated pull of the incumbent's record "still owed." Both pulls were completed on October 25, and the record is corrected here in the open. Kevin Jones is a CFA with 39-plus years in institutional portfolio management (Harmonic Investment Advisors; formerly chief investment officer/COO of D.B. Fitzpatrick), running on a specific critique of the incumbent — that 66 of 67 state bond offerings were negotiated rather than competitively bid, that she skipped a May 2026 Investment Advisory Board meeting, and that the funds underperformed; those are his claims, printed as his. Ellsworth's completed file carries her office's Transparency Report Card figures, a record unclaimed-property month in November 2025 ($291 million held), and AAA/Aa1/AA+ ratings. The sections below are amended accordingly. The endorsement stands — now on completed files rather than thin ones: a proven two-term incumbent against a challenger unproven in elective office, whose professional record contains no in-service break with his party to weigh.

Election Day is November 3. Julie Ellsworth, Idaho's Republican state treasurer since January 2019, seeks re-election after two terms served, against Democrat Kevin Jones. Both primaries on May 19, 2026 were uncontested. There is no public competitiveness evidence located for this race, and no campaign-finance figures were located for either candidate. This is a thin-record race, and this article says so plainly rather than pad it: the dedicated record pulls on both candidates were completed October 25 and are carried in the update note above and the amended sections below. On the completed record, LiberalMind endorses Julie Ellsworth. Read exactly what is — and is not — sourced.

How Idaho got here

The state treasurer serves a four-year term. The primaries were held May 19, 2026, and Ballotpedia's results are marked certified, sourced to results.voteidaho.gov.

The confirmed general-election roster: Julie Ellsworth (Republican, incumbent) — in office since January 2019, two terms served; certified Republican primary, 186,437 votes, 100%, uncontested; Kevin Jones (Democratic) — certified Democratic primary, 42,774 votes, 100%, uncontested. He is listed as "Kevin A Jones" on the Owyhee County sample Democratic primary ballot — the name-form variant is printed as the research file records it; the file flags that ballot name forms are still to be confirmed against the Secretary of State's certified list.

On competitiveness: no public competitiveness evidence located — no rating, poll, or reporting treating this race as competitive was found in this research.

On money: no campaign-finance figures were located for either candidate in this research. That is a gap, named as a gap.

Julie Ellsworth (Republican) — proven by tenure; record pull completed Oct. 25

Background and service: State treasurer since January 2019 — two full terms served, seeking a third term in this office. That tenure is the proven fact in her file.

Record: No scandal or verification failure was located for her in this research. The dedicated record pull, completed October 25, carries her office's 2021 Transparency Report Card figures (fund distributions; an $8.7 million unclaimed-property record year), a record unclaimed-property month in November 2025 ($2.25 million returned; $291 million held), AAA/Aa1/AA+ ratings, her earlier House service (1996–2006 and 2010–12), her anti-ESG coalition participation, Bond Bank savings, and workforce-housing facilitation — detailed in the research file. The challenger's specific management critique of her office is printed in his section, as his.

Pros: Eight years of proven service in the office she seeks again, across two elected terms, with no adverse finding located.

Cons: Her performance record is now documented (see above), and the challenger's critique of it — negotiated bond offerings, a skipped advisory-board meeting, alleged underperformance — is in the file as his claims; voters weigh an incumbent's numbers against a challenger's finance career. We state the record rather than fill it with assertion.

The flaw, plainly: No proven flaw was located in this research.

Kevin Jones (Democratic) — unproven in office, on a completed professional file

Background and service: Democratic nominee, uncontested in his primary as above. His biography, located in the October 25 pull: a CFA with 39-plus years in institutional portfolio management — Harmonic Investment Advisors, and formerly chief investment officer/COO of D.B. Fitzpatrick. He has never held elected office. His program is a specific critique of the incumbent's management: that 66 of 67 state bond offerings were negotiated rather than competitively bid, that Ellsworth skipped a May 2026 Investment Advisory Board meeting, and that the funds underperformed — his claims, printed as his, not independently adjudicated here. No scandal or verification failure was located for him.

He is unproven for elective office. Under our doctrine unproven is never a demerit — and it is also not a Manchin-test record: there are no proven in-service breaks with his party on our values in his file, because there is no service record in his file to inspect.

Pros: He is the certified Democratic nominee, with a four-decade professional finance record directly relevant to the office and a specific, falsifiable critique of the incumbent's management. No adverse finding was located against him.

Cons: No prior office and no money figures were located; his critique is a challenger's claim set, not an inspected record, and his professional record contains no in-service break with his party toward our values — there is no service record to inspect.

The flaw, plainly: Unproven in office — a professional record to weigh, no service record to inspect.

The minor candidates, briefly

There are none on the confirmed roster. This is a two-candidate race on the sources above. A standing check found no pedophile-association material meeting the proven standard for any candidate on this ballot — absence noted, nothing implied.

OUR CALL

LiberalMind endorses Julie Ellsworth.

We make this call at the strength the record allows, and no stronger. The incumbent is proven by two terms in the office with no proven flaw located; the challenger is unproven in office on a completed professional file, with no Manchin-test record to set against incumbency. That is enough, under our doctrine, to endorse the proven in-tent incumbent — and it is also why this article is short: an endorsement is not a license to invent a record neither candidate's file contains. Both record pulls landed October 25 and are carried above; this article remains a living document through November 3.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

← Back to the Election Series