Doug Lindley/Idaho State Journal
Idaho gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan, a Native American from northern Idaho, visited the Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School Feb. 28 and shot hoops with the girls basketball team.
By Logan Ramsey, lramsey@journalnet.com
FORT HALL — Native American gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan visited Fort Hall on Wednesday, and many residents were impressed by her leadership and what she had to say.
Jordan, a Democrat from Plummer in northern Idaho, held a town hall at the Shoshone Bannock Hotel and Event Center. Afterwards, she visited the Shoshone Bannock Jr./Sr. High School, where she met with students and spoke to them about about their role and voice in governance.
Out of all of the candidates for governor, Louis Archuleta believed Jordan has the most promise. He said that he liked her ideas and that she’s most concerned with the issues people care about.
Ryan De Frisco and Janese Hurley had a good feeling about her as well. Hurley said she loved her humble approach to leadership and that there needs to be more women in government.
De Frisco highlighted the issue that there’s a cultural divide between Native Americans and the rest of Idaho, and that because of Jordan’s heritage, she stands a better chance than anyone at bridging that divide.
“I think she’s exactly what we need right now,” De Frisco said.
Charley Plenty Woundes stated that Jordan’s heritage gives her a wider view of the issues than other politicians and that she sees the bigger picture. Plenty Woundes compared the way our current state politicians view the issues to how a horse with blinders sees a racetrack. He loved that she was down to earth and wasn’t in a ‘metropolitan state of mind.’
After the town hall, Jordan made her way to the Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School and talked to a classroom full of students about the power of having their voices heard in government.
She even gave them some advice her grandmother had given her.
“Whenever you walk into a room, or you come across a community event, always speak up, and ask your elders what their names are,” she said. “And you make sure that if they need water you give them water, and that you’re always helping those folks out. Whether they’re tired or veterans or those with disabilities. You always want to make sure you’re looking out for everyone in the room first.”
Urging them all to not just run for tribal council, but for local and state positions as well, Jordan also said, “Whether or not you think you’re political, my grandmother always said ‘we are born political.'”
“We are born having to learn about our rights, and if we don’t learn about them, how can we lead?” Jordan continued.
She ended the event by addressing the whole school about the importance of voting in the primary elections on May 15.
“Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles,” she said. “The whole challenge for us is to ensure that we get every single citizen of this community to vote.”
Jordan recently resigned from the Idaho House to run for governor. During the May 15 primary, she will face off against Boise businessman A.J. Balukoff. The winner of the Democratic primary will go on to face the winner of the Republican primary in the general election.
