By THE ALASKA STORY
Sept. 23, 2026 – An Alaskan taking a peek at Idaho’s November general election ballot might need a moment to take it all in. There is a candidate for governor named Pro-Life. That’s right. Mr. Pro-Life. There is also a question asking voters to choose an official state gun.
The gun question, placed on the ballot by Idaho lawmakers through House Bill 932, offers six choices: the Winchester Model 1894, Winchester Model 1873, Colt Single Action Army “Peacemaker,” M1 Garand, Colt M1911 and Remington Model 700. Voters may pick one. The result is advisory; naming a state gun would still require legislative action.
Idaho has a more familiar question elsewhere on the ballot: Who should be governor? One answer is Pro-Life, the Constitution Party candidate formerly known as Marvin Richardson. His ballot listing supplies that explanation in parentheses, which is helpful if a voter briefly mistakes the name for a campaign slogan or party name.
The rest of Idaho’s statewide ballot calls for a more serious look: A citizen initiative would establish statutory abortion rights, including abortion access up to fetal viability, like Alaska has: where death begins just before birth for some infants. So let’s get that straight: There’s a candidate whose official name is Pro-Life and a ballot initiative that is pro-death.
Two proposed constitutional amendments address English as the official state language and whether only the Legislature could legalize marijuana and other specified substances.
For Alaskans who have talked about moving to Idaho if Alaska flips to blue this November, the comparison has a certain charm. Idaho voters can choose between a Peacemaker and a Winchester, then select one candidate for governor. One vote per voter, not multiple.
Alaska voters face a ranked-choice general election mess, where a single candidate contest can ask them to mark first, second and subsequent choices. Idaho voters rejected a proposal to adopt a top-four primary and ranked-choice general election in 2024. There are 19 states that have banned the Alaska-style ranked-choice voting.
Of course, the names Peacemaker and Pro-Life make Idaho’s ballot memorable enough on their own. Alaskans looking for a simpler ballot may find one there, provided they can settle the Winchester-versus-Colt debate first.
Trivia question: What is the official Alaska state firearm since 2014? Answer in the comment section below or check our Facebook page later today for the correct answer.
2 thoughts on “Idaho’s ballot has a state gun contest and a candidate named what?”
The 1873, obviously.
The gun that won the west.
Ferd Patterson was one of the most feared and volatile gunfighters in Idaho history. A staunch Southern sympathizer, he was known for his deadly temper. He solidified his infamy in Idaho City in 1865 when he gunned down the former sheriff and Unionist Sumner Pinkham in a highly publicized duel sparked by political tensions.
Henry Plummer, before becoming the crooked sheriff of Bannack, Montana (where he was famously hanged by vigilantes), operated a violent road agent gang out of Lewiston, Idaho, and the surrounding gold camps.
Wyatt Earp, legendary gunfighter and lawman, spent a notable period in Idaho. Following the events in Tombstone, Earp and his common-law wife joined the 1884 gold rush to the Coeur d’Alene region, opening a saloon and working as a businessman and unelected deputy in Eagle City, Idaho.
Boone Helm (The “Kentucky Cannibal”) was a terrifying, psychopathic gunfighter and outlaw who terrorized the Idaho Territory in the early 1860s. He earned his gruesome nickname by repeatedly surviving harsh winter mountain treks by consuming the bodies of his slain companions.
“Diamondfield Jack” Davis, operating in southern Idaho during the late 1890s, was a hired gunman for large cattle companies during the violent range wars between cattlemen and sheep herders. He was convicted of murdering two sheep herders in Cassia County and narrowly escaped the gallows several times before eventually being pardoned.