BOISE, Idaho — Republican candidate Debbie Critchfield is set to become Idaho's next State Superintendent of Public Instruction following Tuesday's win in the 2022 Idaho General Election.
Critchfield defeated Democrat candidate Terry L. Gilbert, receiving roughly 70% of the vote with 99% or precincts across Idaho reporting Wednesday evening.
Critchfield collected north of 400,000 votes out of more than 575,000 cast Tuesday.
For the past seven years, Critchfield has served as a member on the Idaho Board of Education, the last two years of which she served as the President. As a board member, Critchfield served as chair of the Policy and Planning, Audit, and Instructional, Research and Student Affairs committees.
At the local level, she served on the Cassia County school board for 10 years and has worked as the district's public information officer for the last nine years. Critchfield began her career in education as a substitute teacher, and also worked as a GED instructor with the College of Southern Idaho.
Critchfield lives in Oakley, Idaho with her husband, David. Together they have four children and two grandchildren.
Live updates here:
RELATED: Idaho election results 2022
Gilbert has been a lifelong educator, working as a teacher, mentor, and a public education advocate. He was born and raised in Oregon, and was the first in his family to go to college. Gilbert attended Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, and graduated with a degree in education. He started his career in rural Idaho schools and has been teaching ever since, from elementary to college levels, for nearly 45 years.
Watch more Idaho politics:
See all of our latest political coverage in our YouTube playlist:
