For more than three decades, Idaho Public Television has been Idaho's "station of record" for candidate debates. This primary season, we continue that tradition with a debate in the race for the Republican nomination in Idaho's 2nd Congressional District.

The Debate: Republican Candidates for the 2nd Congressional District

Watch Congressman Mike Simpson and challenger Chick Heileson debate for the GOP nomination.

Panelists include Melissa Davlin from the Twin Falls Times-News, Clark Corbin from the Idaho Falls Post-Register and Scott Logan from KBOI 2News. Greg Hahn, host of Idaho Reports, moderates the debate.

Why just one primary debate?

Though voters in Idaho will have multiple candidates to choose from on their ballots for the Republican and Democratic primaries in both the 1st and 2nd congressional districts, the coalition of groups that puts on the Idaho Debates each year establishes criteria that gauge whether candidates are engaged in active campaigns, and restricts the debates to only those races where two or more of the candidates quality.

For more information on how this works, read our Rules and Criteria page.

Partners

Partners in The Idaho Debates include the League of Women Voters, the Idaho Press Club, Idaho Public Television, The Associated Press, Boise State Public Radio, the Newspaper Association of Idaho, the Idaho State Broadcasters Association, The Idaho Statesman, and KIVI-TV.

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Funding for The Idaho Debates 2012 is provided by the Public Policy Center at Boise State University and the Idaho Public Television Endowment