Summary
Current Position: Educator
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2023 Governor
Stephen Heidt is a 4th generation Idahoan and lifelong educator. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations & Diplomacy in 1986 from BYU Provo. In 1990 he earned his 2nd BA in history and his teaching certificate.
He has five children with his wife, plus two grandchildren, who have all made Idaho their home. His father was a decorated veteran of the Korean War and his uncle is buried in the U.S. WWII Military Cemetery near Florence, Italy. Stephen served in the U.S. Army National Guard for 8 years.
OnAir Post: Stephen Heidt
About
Source: Campaign page
EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
As a 4th generation Idahoan who grew up in a small agricultural community a few miles south of Preston, Idaho.
I had a modest upbringing and started working at the dairy down the street from my house at age 10. I was at work by 4:00 a.m. milking cows and my summers were spent bucking hay and delivering the early morning newspaper. I was active in sports, became an Eagle Scout, and served my LDS mission in Brazil after graduating high school.
After spending more than a decade working inside of Idaho’s prisons, it was clear that our politicians could do better for you and the rest of Idaho. My perspective for seeing what is possible came from my passion for education.
My faith taught me to care about my neighbors, to educate, and serve those in need. Politicians should be leaders and leaders should be teachers. I am a teacher, and effective politicians, like teachers, can be “agents of change” who teach new ways of looking at the world. Think about the greatest teacher you ever had. And now consider the positive effect, that teacher had upon your life. When elected, I will be that politician who you will look back and realize that I made a difference for you, your family, your neighbors and the state that we love.
AGENTS OF CHANGE
Faith and values are not words, they are actions. We should treat each other the way my family valued our neighbors lives of our families and communities. When I began teaching in Idaho’s prisons I found my faith tested.
My faith taught me to care about those around me and serve those in need; help them, educate them, and lead them. Being a leader and a teacher inside Idaho’s prisons showed me that change is hard, but it is valuable and embraced by those in need. Being a politician should be more like being a teacher. Great teachers are “agents of change” who permanently improve people’s lives. We must work together to improve the lives of our families and communities. As “Agents of Change”, politicians teach new ways for those who aren’t seeing the opportunity of our community here or the world at large, to discover what they may not be seeing as they look at the world, as we all do.
I want to strengthen our public education system, not just K-12, but beyond. For myself, while earning degrees in Political Science-International Relations and History at BYU-Provo and Eastern Washington University. I enjoyed sports, the arts and sang for two seasons with the Utah Opera Company. While attending BYU, I ran for office in the Republican party. In doing this I realized that being a change agent as a teacher was going to be my political statement at the time. Today, my statement is quite clear, I am here to serve you as an “agent of change, as Idaho’s next Governor.
RED WHITE AND BLUE IDAHO
My mother lived and died Republican. My brother is a proud Republican. One of my sisters is a moderate. And my nephew, Daniel Friend, is a progressive Democrat running for the state legislature in Provo, Utah.
The point is that we all work to accept one another’s different point of views. My family, like Idaho, has many different political beliefs and we have to fight to be heard, but we don’t fight about what we hear. I realized that as an educator, a seeker of justice and equality, the Democratic party was in alignment with my values.
Web
Campaign Site, Twitter, Facebook
Politics
Source: none
