Russ Fulcher
Russ Fulcher, a Republican who has represented Idaho's 1st congressional district since 2019, is seeking re-election in 2026 against Democrat Kaylee Peterson, Constitution Party candidate Brendan Gomez and independent Sarah Zabel.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Russ Fulcher.
- Birthplace
- Boise, Idaho
- Education
- Boise State University (bachelor's degree in business administration, 1984)
Boise State University (master's degree in business administration, 1988)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Russ Fulcher, born Russell Mark Fulcher, is a fourth-generation Idahoan who was born in Boise, Idaho, and grew up on a dairy farm in Meridian. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Boise State University in 1984 and a master's degree in business administration from the same university in 1988. He also completed a course on electronic engineering through Micron Technology.
Career
Fulcher spent much of his early career in Idaho's technology industry, working in international business development with Micron Technology, and later worked as a broker in commercial real estate. In 2005 Governor Dirk Kempthorne appointed him to the Idaho Senate for the 21st district.
He won election in 2006, served the 21st district through 2012 and represented District 22 from 2012 to 2014, serving as majority caucus leader from 2008 to 2012 and from 2013 to 2014. In 2014 he unsuccessfully challenged Governor Butch Otter in the Republican primary for governor.
Fulcher won the 2018 Republican primary for Idaho's 1st congressional district with 43.1% of the vote and the general election with 62.7%, and he has served in the U.S. House since 2019. He is a member of the Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee, and in the 118th Congress he sat on the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Natural Resources.
2026 race
Russ Fulcher is seeking re-election in Idaho's 1st congressional district, which takes in the Idaho Panhandle and the western Boise area; he was re-elected with 71.0% of the vote in 2024.
In the Republican primary he won 78.2% of the vote against kitchen designer Andy Briner and information security professional Joseph Morrison. His Democratic opponent is Kaylee Peterson, an artisan jeweler who was the party's nominee for the district in 2022 and 2024.
The general election on November 3, 2026, also includes Constitution Party candidate Brendan Gomez and independent Sarah Zabel, an author and retired U.S. Air Force major general.