Kootenai County commissioner candidates pitch priorities ahead of May 19 primary

Four Republicans seeking Kootenai County’s two open commissioner seats made their case Thursday morning at Seasons of Coeur d’Alene, where the conversation stayed on the issues that reach beyond campaign labels and into household budgets: growth, taxes, government tone and how county money gets spent. Julie Hensley and John Padula are running in District 1, while incumbent Bruce Mattare and challenger Steve Em are competing in District 2.

In the District 1 race, Padula, a pastor at The Altar Church in Coeur d’Alene, framed his campaign around taxpayers and the fear that county government could be steered by any single party, official or outside interest. Hensley, who works part time as a nurse and runs a business with her husband, pushed a different emphasis, saying the job calls for policy discipline, growth planning and long-term stewardship of public money rather than political branding. For homeowners watching property taxes and for business owners trying to navigate county rules, the split was between a more explicitly political message and one that leaned on administration and planning.

The District 2 contest offered another contrast. Mattare, first elected in 2022, leaned on his business background and argued that commissioners need to understand cash flow, policy and human resources if county government is going to keep functioning as Kootenai County keeps growing. Em cast himself as a blue-collar alternative with public-service experience and said he wanted to help heal division. That debate matters because the Board of County Commissioners serves as the county’s taxing authority, contracting body and chief administrator of public funds, which puts commissioners at the center of decisions that ripple into taxes, service levels and the pace of local development.

The numbers explain why growth has become such a central test. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Kootenai County’s population at 191,864 on July 1, 2025, up from 188,323 a year earlier and 171,362 in the 2020 census. USAFacts said the county gained about 3,100 residents between 2023 and 2024, a 1.7% increase driven mostly by people moving in from other states. The county’s 2024 figures also showed 20.8% of residents were 65 or older and the median owner-occupied home value was $518,700, a backdrop that helps explain why taxes, infrastructure and land-use decisions land so hard here.

The budget picture is just as sharp. County levy materials show the Board of County Commissioners oversees the county’s finances, and the FY2025 tentative budget lists a proposed Current Expense preliminary budget of $32,395,118 and a proposed Current Expense levy rate of 0.000197398. Those choices will shape how much pressure falls on property owners and how much money is available for county operations as the population continues to climb.

Party politics also loomed over the race. The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee recommended Hensley and Mattare for the May 19 primary after questionnaires, interviews, candidate forums and a background check, with precinct committeemen from the county’s 74 precincts taking part in the vote. With the primary also set to include other county offices and some taxing district questions, the commissioner races now sit at the center of the county’s larger fight over growth, spending and whether local government can keep pace without losing public trust.