Candidate for U.S. Senate visiting eastern Idaho on ‘listening tour’

POCATELLO – A former state representative from Boise will soon visit eastern Idaho, not just to speak, but to listen.

Todd Achilles, a former Democratic Idaho state representative, will make stops in Pocatello and Idaho Falls as part of his “Shake up the System Listening Tour” in his campaign for one of Idaho’s seats in the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Jim Risch. Now running as an independent candidate, Achilles will focus on talking to voters about their most important concerns.

“It’s a good opportunity to get out there, and let’s have a conversation about how we restore the America and the political system that we grew up with, and break out of this two-party structure that is just, frankly, dragging the country down,” Achilles said. “What you’ll see (from) the conversations we have, that the great challenges in front of our country right now are not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.”

Achilles served two terms as a state representative for District 16 in Boise, the last session as minority caucus chair, before he resigned on July 1 to run as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate.

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While he believes there are “good people” in both parties, he saw running independently as necessary.

“When you look at what’s happening in Congress at the national level, the two-party system is fundamentally broken. … It doesn’t matter who’s in power. We have growing debt, dysfunction, division, and it’s happening under both parties,” Achilles said.

Achilles first served as a tank commander and an armor officer in the U.S. Army.

“I served as an Army officer and led troops, which I think is incredibly important in terms of sitting in the Senate. There’s nothing like deploying to the Persian Gulf with your troops to sort of make our foreign policy as real as it can be,” Achilles said.

Achilles told EastIdahoNews.com that he had been thinking about running for national office for a while because of his “increasing concern with the poor representation in Washington, D.C., of Idaho interests and that we need to do something about it.”

Achilles will speak with the public in Pocatello starting at 5:30 p.m. at Raymond Park on Sunday, and Freeman Park in Idaho Falls on Monday at the same time. He will also appear in Twin Falls on Friday.

Some of the issues he’s talked most frequently with voters about have been rising costs, access to healthcare, especially for women, low wages, and the lack of affordable housing. Despite discussing these issues many times, with many different people, Achilles feels it’s important to keep having them.

“It’s conversation, and each time it’s a little bit different, or there’s another detail, another subtlety, or nuance in it,” Achilles said. “These conversations are always good, they’re always informative. It helps me understand what folks are looking for.”

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