Todd Achilles to host coffee Q&A in Hayden ahead of Senate race

Todd Achilles is taking his U.S. Senate pitch to a Hayden coffee shop, where voters can quiz the independent candidate over complimentary coffee or tea at 9 a.m. June 17. The stop at Kaffee Meister, 9212 N Government Way, is the kind of low-key, face-to-face setting that can matter in North Idaho, where unaffiliated voters make up a sizable bloc and statewide candidates are trying to reach people outside the usual rally circuit.

The event comes as Idaho heads toward the Nov. 3 general election for its U.S. Senate seat, a race that already includes incumbent Republican Jim Risch, Democratic nominee David Roth, Libertarian Matt Loesby and independent Natalie Fleming. Idaho’s filing deadline passed Feb. 27, and voters cast ballots in the May 19 primary before the field settled into the fall campaign.

For Kootenai County, the numbers help explain the appeal of a local stop in Hayden. Idaho has 1,029,200 registered voters statewide, while Kootenai County alone has 111,344 registered voters, including 23,259 unaffiliated voters. In a county where political identity often shapes turnout, a morning coffee session gives Achilles a chance to make his case directly to people who may not show up for a formal campaign speech but will drop by a neighborhood shop to listen and ask questions.

Achilles has framed his campaign as a challenge to the two-party system, with an emphasis on public lands, fair markets, livable wages and standing up to special interests. His background includes service in the Idaho House before he resigned in 2025 to run for Senate. Campaign and profile materials also describe him as an Army tank commander, educator and former tech executive, a résumé he has leaned on while introducing himself to voters across the state.

His campaign says it has held more than 100 public events in all 44 Idaho counties and signed up nearly 1,000 volunteers. In North Idaho, that kind of retail politics can be especially important, because the first conversations often happen in places like Kaffee Meister, not in a debate hall. The Hayden stop is one more test of whether an independent candidate can turn casual questions over coffee into votes in a statewide Senate race that remains wide open for many Idahoans.