BOISE, Idaho — Longtime Boise Senator Cherie Buckner-Webb announced Monday morning that she will not seek re-election in November, making the current legislative session her final term in the Idaho Legislature.
Buckner-Webb has been a legislator since 2010, spending two years as a representative in the Idaho House before being elected to the Senate, where she spent the next eight years. She represents District 19 in Boise's North End.
In a statement, the Democratic senator called serving Idaho and the people who live here "an honor."
KTVB reporter Joe Parris sat down with Sen. Buckner-Webb to talk about her decision, and if she thinks the Idaho Democrats are in a good position heading forward. Below is the transcript of the interview.
Joe Parris: For the big announcement this morning, you're not going to run again. I know people are asking why, why don't you want to continue?
Sen. Buckner-Webb: I have had a great role, it's been 10 years, and I have never believed that it was a position for life. I know with some legislators they want to stay forever. That is not my goal. My goal is to endow the future to bring along new younger talent, diverse talent and when I say diverse I mean from all walks of life, I'm not just talking about age ethnicity or that kind of thing, I'm talking about really folks that are ready to look to what the future is like.
Joe Parris: Do you think you accomplished what you set out to do?
Buckner-Webb: I guess, I guess I did in a way and here's what I set out to do, the best work I possibly could, for the people of Idaho. I wanted to learn, I wanted to grow, I wanted to bring a diverse opinion. I wanted to change a few things, not everything got accomplished that I wished it did, and maybe now it's time for me to try to work it from outside this body instead of another.
Joe Parris: For the people that will be in this building. that won't be here (next year), Senator Jordan won't be here, Representative Erpelding is gone, people are curious what's going on with the Democrats are you guys gonna be lost without the names that have been here for the last five years?
Buckner-Webb: Well no, because we've been growing. We've been growing What did they say in football or basketball, we've got, we've got another team, we've got another team coming in. There are folks that are eager willing and capable already preparing themselves to take our places anybody that thinks that they can't leave an organization, and that will fall apart is arrogant and foolish.
Joe Parris: There's still time in this session, but is there anything that you feel like will be left on the table for you, that you wish you would have gotten done didn't get done during your time here and you're hopeful that in the future someone else is?
Buckner-Webb: I haven't given up yet but one of the things that's most most most invaluable to me would be amending the Human Rights Act to include, sexual orientation, gender identity. If we continue to differentiate or discriminate against one group, we're discriminating against all of us, we haven't done our work. That's unfortunate to me.
Joe Parris: What message do you have to the state of Idaho, as you, I guess not retire, but as you leave this job?
Buckner-Webb: There's still a great work to do, and particularly if you're talking about the state of Idaho in this body, we have work to do. We cannot lose our focus on what is right. Politics kind of get jammed up in it sometime, we've got to get past politics and get to human beings and the impact to those human beings, our cities our counties. We need to work collaboratively, stay in our own lane as we're supposed to, but to be engaged fully engaged the head and the heart thing to make it work out.
Buckner-Webb added in a statement,
"It has been an extraordinary time in my life and in the lives of all Idahoans as we have watched phenomenal transformation in our state: our increasing population, our new businesses and industries, and all of the benefits and problems of a rapidly growing state. Those benefits and problems are not evenly distributed, and it is the responsibility of Idaho's citizen legislature to ensure that all Idahoans are valued and heard."
Buckner-Webb's term as senator will end in November. She plans to work in the private sector after her retirement from the Legislature, but vowed to continue her work advocating for issues in Idaho.
"I am so grateful that my family had the wisdom to choose Idaho in 1905, and the tenacity to stay," she said. "In their honor, I encourage legislators to move beyond politics, to value inclusivity, and to welcome all voices as we – the public and private sectors – work together to create the best future possible for generations of to come."