Meet Wendy Norman, the first grade teacher running against Congressman Mike Simpson

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IDAHO FALLS — Wendy Norman, a 1st-grade teacher from Rigby, hopes to unseat Congressman Mike Simpson for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District in next month’s general election.

Norman, a Democrat, has never been involved in politics but felt she needed to run for office to make a change.

She stopped by EastIdahoNews.com this week to answer questions about inflation, gas prices, the economy, abortion and more.

Here is a lightly edited transcript of Norman’s conversation with EastIdahoNews.com reporter Nate Eaton.

NATE EATON, EASTIDAHONEWS.COM: Wendy, thank you for coming in to chat with me. Let’s start with some background on who you are and why you decided to run.

WENDY NORMAN: I am a first grade teacher in Rigby, Idaho. I started teaching in 1994 when I graduated from Utah State University. I started teaching high school and then I went to middle school and now I’m in first grade. Some people say that’s the right trajectory for getting to Congress – I don’t know.

I’ve always been greatly interested in media. I have a journalism associate's degree and read a bunch of what’s going on in the world. I was deeply concerned about the idea of Mike Simpson being defeated in the primary by somebody who I think should never, never hold power in government.

So when I was invited to run for office, this is the one they suggested that I ran for and having no clue what I was doing, I agreed to do it. You know, this has been frightening to start with but I’m not even really scared anymore to say that I’m a Democrat in Idaho.

A one-party state isn’t healthy. We really need to have a balanced state where the compromise doesn’t come between the far right and the right but we actually have a reasonable Democrat presence as well to help start pulling the policies of things more toward the center.

EATON: So why are you a Democrat?

NORMAN: As I have watched what’s been going on, especially in the (2016) presidential election, I felt somebody was elected who should never have the power of the United States government in his hands.

I watched as the fight between left and right – the hatred, the demonizing of people, how somehow teachers became the enemy, how medical providers became the enemy, how scientists are the enemy – I thought that is not what America is supposed to be. United States of America means that we have all the people and recognize the value of all the people and not try to say liberals are evil or they’re socialists or Republicans are evil, and they’re fascist – there’s a lot of that going around.

To run for this office, I did have to declare as a Democrat. Up until then, I wasn’t. I was unaffiliated because of the desire to be a part of the primaries. And then of course, we know that changed as well. You couldn’t even do it. As an unaffiliated voter, you had to declare as a Republican. I declared as a Republican a couple of years ago.

For this, I’m now officially a Democrat. But I think it’s not a bad place. As I’ve traveled across the state and I’ve been meeting people, I wish everyone had that opportunity and that they weren’t so scared of the Democrat's title, the label, because I have met fantastic, good people.

They’re not that far away from where Republicans are. I come from a family of very, very conservative people (but) we need all people represented. And there are a lot of people in the state right now who don’t feel like they have representation.

EATON: The top issue for most voters is the economy and inflation. If you’re elected, what is your proposal on how to fix that or at least contain or stabilize it?

NORMAN: I hear that all the time and I’m really concerned about the idea of people calling it Bidennomics and blaming it strictly on our president. Every nation on earth is dealing with inflation and the inflation is still a result of COVID.

My husband’s work situation – they still can’t get all the things in for electricians. And his brother cannot get all the supplies they need for building things.

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