Daniel David Foreman III (born September 20, 1953) is an American politician who has served in the Idaho Senate since 2022, representing the 6th district. He previously served from 2016 to 2018 and represented the 5th district, which covers parts of Benewah and Latah counties.

Dan Foreman
Idaho State Senator
Assumed office
December 1, 2022
Preceded byDavid Nelson
Constituency6th district (2022–present)
In office
December 1, 2016 – November 30, 2018
Preceded byDan Schmidt
Succeeded byDavid Nelson
Constituency5th district (2016–2018)
Personal details
Born1953 (age 70–71)
Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMaria
Children7
Residence(s)Viola, Idaho, U.S.
EducationBradley University (BS)
Military service
Branch/service United States Air Force
RankColonel

Early life and education

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Foreman was born in Lake Forest, Illinois to Daniel David Foreman Jr and Eileen Susan (McKeating) Foreman. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and administration from Bradley University in 1975.[1]

Career

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He served in the United States Air Force for 30 years and retired as a colonel. He later served as a police officer with the Moscow, Idaho Police Department.[2][3] Foreman was elected to the Idaho Senate in 2016, narrowly defeating incumbent Democratic Senator Dan Schmidt.[4][5][6]

Foreman introduced several bills to the legislature during his first weeks in office, including one that would "classify abortion as first-degree murder — for the mother, as well as the doctor who performs the operation — except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered." He also introduced a bill that would reduce Idaho's sales tax from 6% to 5%, as well as two other tax bills.[7][8]

Foreman was defeated in the November 2018 elections, losing to Democrat David Nelson, receiving 8,777 votes to Nelson's 11,197 votes.[9][10]

He defeated Nelson in the 2022 election.[11]

Political views

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Foreman has been a vocal critic of his own district, calling the area a "cesspool of liberalism".[12] Foreman denies climate change, referring to it as a "scam".[13][14] He does not support the separation of church and state.[15]

Foreman claimed to be the victim of an online identity-theft hoax when on February 20, 2018, State Senator Maryanne Jordan confirmed she had filed an ethics complaint against Foreman after an unverified Twitter account claiming to be owned by Foreman indicated that a group of students should discuss "killing babies" with her.[16] Foreman reportedly had been scheduled to meet with college students from the University of Idaho who were advocating for birth control and sex education. After cancelling the meeting at the last minute, Foreman was recorded yelling at the students as he passed them in the hallway, telling them, "abortion is murder".[17]

On October 1, 2024, among the seated candidates at a "meet the candidates" forum in Kendrick, Foreman reportedly stood up and interrupted Trish Carter-Goodheart, a Native American woman born in Idaho and running for the state legislature, who was responding in her turn to a question from the audience regarding discrimination. Including profanities, he shouted at her "go back where you came from" and denied that racism existed in Idaho before angrily leaving the forum that continued without him. He later wrote on Facebook, "I enlightened this person to the fact I was born in America, and I am therefore a native American. There was no racial slur in my statement".[18] Several attending the forum confirmed the report of the incident, including Foreman’s opponent who stated that she rose, confronted Foreman, and attempted to defuse his anger before he stormed out.[19]

Personal life

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Foreman and his wife, Maria, have 7 children and 20 grandchildren.[2][3] Foreman is Catholic.[20]

Electoral history

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2016
Latah County Sheriff Republican primary election, 2016[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard (Richie) Skiles 1,343 52.70
Republican Dan Foreman 969 38.02
Republican Brian Strampher 236 9.26
Total votes 2,548 100.00
Idaho Senate District 5 election, 2016[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 11,275 50.76
Democratic Dan Schmidt 10,939 49.24
Total votes 22,214 100.00
2018
Idaho Senate District 5, Republican primary election, 2018[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 2,180 51.3
Republican Marshall Comstock 2,071 48.7
Total votes 4,251 100.0
Idaho Senate District 5 election, 2018[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Nelson 11,197 56.1
Republican Dan Foreman (incumbent) 8,777 43.9
Total votes 19,974 100.0
2020
Idaho Senate District 5 Republican primary election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 4,376 100.0
Total votes 4,376 100.0
Idaho Senate District 5 election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Nelson (incumbent) 12,691 50.4
Republican Dan Foreman 12,471 49.6
Total votes 25,162 100.0
2022
Idaho Senate District 6, Republican primary election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 2,792 43.2
Republican Robert Blair 2,282 35.3
Republican Jen Seegmiller 1,391 21.5
Total votes 6,465 100.0
Idaho Senate District 6 election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 10,174 50.1
Democratic David Nelson (incumbent) 9,746 48.0
Constitution James Hartley 398 2.0
Total votes 20,318 100.0
2024
Idaho Senate District 6, Republican primary election, 2024
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dan Foreman 3,396 53.2
Republican Robert Blair 2,983 46.8
Total votes 6,379 100.0

References

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  1. ^ "Sen. Dan Foreman – Idaho State Legislature". Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Senator Dan Foreman (R)". Idaho Senate. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Dan Foreman's Biography". Project VoteSmart. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Prentice, George (November 9, 2016). "Election Results 2016: Net Losses for Democrats in Idaho Legislature". Boise Weekly. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  5. ^ Quinn, Shanon; Hager, Tom (November 9, 2016). "Jordan, Nilsson Troy re-elected, Schmidt defeated". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  6. ^ Russell, Betsy Z. (November 9, 2016). "Another upset in a legislative race, as Sen. Schmidt apparently narrowly loses to GOP challenger". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  7. ^ Spence, William L. (January 11, 2017). "Idaho lawmaker would charge women who have abortions with murder". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  8. ^ Prentice, George (January 13, 2017). "More Idaho GOP Fireworks: Senate Mulling Challenged Election and Freshman Senator Wants to Make Abortion First-Degree Murder". Boise Weekly. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Legislative Totals". sos.idaho.gov. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  10. ^ "Nelson takes Senate seat". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. November 7, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  11. ^ William Spence. "Dan Foreman secures win over Sen. David Nelson". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  12. ^ Russell, Betsy Z. (April 25, 2018). "Sen. Foreman calls his own county a 'cesspool of liberalism'". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  13. ^ Russell, Betsy Z. (February 12, 2017). "Idaho Sen. Foreman says he thinks climate change is a liberal 'scam'". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  14. ^ Spence, William L. (February 11, 2017). "Climate change is liberal 'scam,' according to GOP lawmaker". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Malloy, Chuck (March 15, 2017). "He might as well start constituent letters with, 'Dear Stupid'". Idaho Press-Tribune. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  16. ^ "GOP state senator in Idaho faces ethics complaint over tweet on abortion". CBS News. Associated Press. February 20, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  17. ^ "Idaho lawmaker not sorry for yelling 'abortion is murder'". AP NEWS. February 20, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  18. ^ Luchetta, Julie (October 3, 2024). "Senator tells Native American candidate to go back to where she came from, storms out of public event". Boise State Public Radio. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  19. ^ "Idaho state senator tells Native American candidate 'go back where you came from' in forum". Associated Press. October 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "Voters in North Idaho should put an end to this legislator's temper tantrums | Opinion". Yahoo News. October 3, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  21. ^ "LATAH COUNTY RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION". Idaho Secretary of State. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  22. ^ "ID State Senate 05 2016". Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  23. ^ "Legislative Tools". Idaho Secretary of State. Retrieved October 4, 2023.