Twin Falls City Council Getting More Conservative

Twin Falls City Council may be getting even redder.  In a Republican sense.  Council elections are non-partisan.  Which is a nice sentiment but everybody knows where various members of the council stand.  I’ve seen most of them at Republican events.  The Mayor is a Democrat.  He’s in a minority, although.  He would be considered a business-friendly Democrat.  Very much unlike some of his counterparts at the national level.

With the retirement of Councilman Chris Talkington there was a rare seat not defended by an incumbent.  The challengers were a mix of mostly moderate to conservative Republican.  Or at least what I found out when asking some questions of party leaders (The modern GOP is a big tent).

I met or know 10 of the 11 candidates who were seeking four seats.  Three seats weren’t up for a vote this year.

The man who’ll take seat 4, which is being vacated by Councilman Talkington, is Craig Hawkins.  I met him two weeks ago and he left me with a very good impression.

First, he’s very pleasant.  In a neighborly way.  He’s a devout man and his faith influences his life.  While I’m not making any predictions on social issues (some of which do come before city government) I predict he’ll be a friendlier face for conservative values voters.

You recall a vote to discuss an abortion ban in the city failed by a 4 to 3 margin.  The same proposal may not again come before the councilmen and women but the 4-3 divide may have been reversed on several other issues.