Tribal member Rudy Soto busy campaigning for U.S. House or Representatives 1st District seat
Rudy Soto, First Congressional District candidate.
By DANA HERNANDEZ
Sho-Ban News
NAMPA — Rudy Soto is currently in a run for Congress, and since elections are just around the corner, he wanted to share some updates about his campaign and how he feels about it.
Soto said he describes himself as an easy going person who loves to joke. “I was really excited when I stopped over in Fort Hall and some employees from the casino recognized me and we got a picture together and that made me feel good. I would say I am approachable, down to earth, and I love to laugh,” he said.
Soto has visited just about every county within the first district, which is 19 counties. “As of today, I’ve been to the 15 of the 19, so I’ve been working hard on closing out strong and making myself available to the voters in every town and region throughout the district and that has been going very well,” said Soto.
He has been using his campaign RV and said it’s been fun and exciting. “I am grateful and have learned that I have out-fundraised my opponent, which is a good sign. This shows how much support my campaign has, and that suggests that I have a strong chance of making sure this is a competitive election,” said Soto.
He is really excited about the possibility of being the only Native American veteran in Congress. He has received a lot of support from tribes from around the country, but he says it all started first with the endorsement of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the other four tribes in Idaho, and it means a lot to him.
He said the biggest issue that he cares about is health care access, affordability, and helping to make sure that our communities can come out of the pandemic healthy, and also, economically stable. The other issue he mentioned was the importance of salmon restoration.
“Our tribe is helping to lead the way on that and we need urgent action from leaders in Congress to help prevent the extinction of salmon. That’s why this election is more important than ever and we need everyone to get out to vote. I think that if I am able to get in Congress, I will be able to do a lot more to work on issues like Indian Health Service and funding, telehealth, and rural broadband, and environmental protection” Soto said.
He would like to thank the FHBC and the public affairs office. “The tribe has been a helpful resource for questions that were related to COVID-19 and anything else. I want to thank my aunt Sharon Wheeler, because we recently lost my sister, and she was really helpful during that time for us.”
Soto said he would like to encourage everyone to follow his campaign on social media and for the closing stretch. Soto explained, “we need to reach as many people as we can. It helps us to show strong support through social media.” During election night, Soto said, he plans to spend it surrounded by his family.
