Congressional District #1

Jimmy Farris

His parents, Bob and Sharon, taught Jimmy and his four siblings that he could do anything he set his mind to through hard work and determination.  Bob, a teacher and principal, and Sharon who spent a lifetime working in the healthcare industry, showed Jimmy the value of being a community leader and instilled a deep respect for being involved in his neighborhood and church.

A graduate of Lewiston High School, Jimmy attended the University of Montana, earning a degree in Marketing and Management while having a standout football career with the Grizzlies.  Graduating in 2000, Jimmy took the next step in chasing his dream and entered the NFL Draft.  Despite his exceptional performance as a wide receiver, he went undrafted.

Undaunted, Jimmy continued to pursue his dream to play in the NFL.  He was invited to attend the San Francisco 49er’s pre-season camp for the longest of shots of making the roster of an NFL team.  Through that same hard work, dedication, and persistence, he learned growing up in Idaho, Jimmy (almost through the sheer force of his will) made the team and began his NFL career.

Jimmy spent the next six seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver with the 49er’s, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, and the Washington Redskins.  As a player, it is no surprise that Jimmy was known as a hard-working dedicated team player.  As a member of the 2001 Patriots Super Bowl Championship team, Jimmy was the team’s overachiever.

After a successful career in the NFL Jimmy transitioned into sports broadcasting, giving him time to turn his attention to becoming the kind of community leader his family had instilled in him.  In addition to volunteering his time at local food banks and homeless shelters Jimmy achieved another goal by opening The Jimmy Farris Future Leaders Foundation.  The foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping and developing young leaders with the skills necessary to excel academically, spiritually, socially and athletically.  Jimmy was able to help underprivileged kids by providing them support and a set of values that would ensure success in whatever they chose.

Recently, Jimmy returned to his home in Idaho, to be closer to his family and continue to give back to the community that has given him so much in life.  After achieving his dream and living his passion in the NFL, Jimmy knew it was time to give back to the state and nation that made it possible for him to pursue his dreams.

Jimmy is running for Congress because he believes this is a critical moment when we need leaders in Washington that will pull together the diverse group of Representatives in the U.S. House, and get to the work the American people sent them to do.  Using that same spirit of hard work, dedication, and persistence, Jimmy will get things done for the people of Idaho and the nation and work to keep America the best place for anyone to pursue and achieve their dreams.

Visit Jimmy’s Website

Congressional District #2

Nicole LeFavour

Nicole LeFavour is well known, both to members of District 19 and to the entire state, as an engaged citizen and a respected legislator, educator, advocate and writer. Nicole was born in 1964 in Colorado, to Pat and Bruce LeFavour. She was raised, along with her sister, Cree, in central Idaho on Robinson Bar Ranch near the Frank Church Wilderness, where she learned to fish, ride, cross-country ski, kayak and backpack before the age of 13. She later worked in the Frank Church Wilderness with the forest service as a fire lookout, wilderness ranger and firefighter.

Nicole graduated with a degree in cognitive science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987. She then taught in San Francisco’s inner-city schools for a year before enrolling in the Master of Fine Arts Program in Writing at the University of Montana in Missoula. There she taught writing to college freshmen. She moved to Boise in 1990 to teach, write, make a home and become a respected community leader.

Once in Boise, Nicole quickly became a visible advocate for Idaho’s clean air, water and open space. A lead organizer in early work to stop the proposed Owhyee Bombing Range, former City Council Member Anne Hausrath remembers Nicole as a key volunteer in the pilot project that established Boise City’s recycling program. [/three_fourth_last] [clear]

Since that time she has been involved in and supported successful local campaigns, including the preservation of Hull Gulch, the Boise Foothills levy campaign and efforts to promote and fund sound transportation planning for the Boise area.

Nicole has been recognized as a dedicated advocate for dignity and human rights; she was a recipient of the 2001 United Nations Human Rights Day Award from Idaho Voices of Faith for Human Rights. In 2001, she was named as a “Woman Making History” by the Boise State University Women’s Center, in the first year the center bestowed those awards. She served for more than two years as a member of the Ada County Human Rights Task Force, and as the co-chairperson of Your Family, Friends and Neighbors, an organization working to increase respect and understanding of gay and lesbian Idahoans. In 2004 she was awarded Grassroots Leader of the Year by United Vision for Idaho, a statewide coalition working on issues ranging from poverty and the enviornment to civil rights and tax policy. She is a former board member for Western States Center in Portland, Oregon, where she has worked on issues surrounding gender, race and class discrimination.

In Boise, Nicole has worked for four years at the Log Cabin Literary Center, where as a Writer in the Schools she has taught writing to at-risk youth in classrooms across the Treasure Valley. For four years, she also taught writing to some of Boise’s most economically-disadvantaged youth at Franklin Elementary School. Nicole worked most recently as a Writer in the Schools at Fort Boise Mid High, an alternative public school program where she teaches teenagers to write and to perform stories and poetry about their lives — and about issues that affect many of them, including drug and alcohol addiction, violence and teenage parenting.

For four years, LeFavour operated a small graphic and web design business and in the mid 1990′s worked as an investigative reporter; in 1997 she won an Idaho Press Club award for her story about labor practices at the Albertsons supermarket chain.

In 2001, Nicole became involved with the Idaho Center for Budget and Tax Policy and its work to stop the tax cuts that slashed over $200 million in revenue from Idaho budgets, crippling the state’s ability to fully fund education and health care programs.

As a legislator, Nicole has been one of the most visible and active Democrats in the Idaho statehouse. During her four years in the Idaho House of Representatives, she served on the powerful Revenue and Taxation Committee, on the Energy, Environment and Technology Committee as well as on the Judiciary Committee. She was elected by her peers to serve on Legislative Council and in 2007 was recognized as an Idaho Business Review Women of the Year.

Additionally, in 2008 Nicole was awarded Legislator of the Year by the Idaho State Planning Council on Mental Health.

She has led efforts to reduce prison populations by improving treatment options for offenders facing substance abuse and mental health issues and successfully passed legislation to offer clinically trained mental health and substance abuse counselors to rural Idaho high schools.

Elected to the Idaho Senate in November of 2008 she was again elected to Legislative Council and appointed to serve on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, Commerce and Health & Welfare Committees where she will continue her work to reform health care and build a seamless system of mental health and substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery support.

She is proud to use her skills, experience and hard work to serve as a leader, impacting legislative issues on behalf of her many neighbors and community members in District 19.

Nicole lives with her partner, Carol Growhoski, her dog, Kaza, and her cat, Olive, in a 110-year-old home in Boise’s North End.

Visit Nicole’s Website