Idaho Falls Man With Passion For Public Administration Wants To Be City's Next Mayor

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is part of a series of profiles of the 2025 Idaho Falls mayoral candidates.

IDAHO FALLS – Christian Ashcraft, a former employee for the city of Idaho Falls who has a master’s degree in public administration, is hoping to become the city’s next mayor.

The 32-year-old Hamer native is one of three candidates running for the office. Current Mayor Rebecca Casper has announced she will not be seeking a fourth term.

In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, Ashcraft says he has a passion for how cities work and the impact they have on building a community. That’s his motivation for putting his hat in the ring.

If elected, there are three things he wants to focus on: a strong economy, a trusted government and small-town spirit.

“What I really hope to accomplish is establishing a leadership and management style that helps businesses collaborate with the community and have a strong economy,” Ashcraft says.

Ashcraft says collaboration with the public and private sector is the key to overcoming any city challenges. Investing in “our small-town community,” he says, is just as important as maintaining infrastructure to support growth.

“The thing that we love that makes us feel like this is our city is the stuff that we need to protect and invest in as we face the challenges that come,” says Ashcraft.

Although Ashcraft has never held public office before, he says his background makes him uniquely qualified to lead the city.

He moved to Idaho Falls in 2022 after getting hired as the city’s economic development administrator. It’s a position he held for about a year. The opportunity to “work between business and government” led him to pursue his own entrepreneurial ventures. He owns a food truck called Big Papa’s Fries, which caters at community events, including the Idaho Falls Farmers Market. Ashcraft also contributes to his family farm in Hamer.

Before moving to Idaho Falls, he worked as a city management intern in Orem, Utah, while obtaining his master’s degree at Brigham Young University. Years earlier, while attending Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, he was president of the student representative council for two semesters and later worked for the city of Ammon as a policy analyst.

He feels his background in administrative positions is valuable experience for being mayor.

“The mayor’s position for the city of Idaho Falls — every city is different — is more administrative,” he says. “My background is very diverse … and what that has taught me is that I don’t have all the answers. Everybody has a unique perspective and … a unique ability to contribute solutions to a problem. My leadership style (focused on collaboration) would be a huge benefit to our community.”

Ashcraft, left, with his wife, Tiffany, and two children. | Courtesy Christian Ashcraft

The seed for Ashcraft’s passion for public administration was planted many years ago as a kid in Hamer. He recalls meeting the city’s mayor for the first time and being intrigued.

He participated in Boy Scouts and went on to earn several merit badges related to local government.

“I think I really just cared a lot about people,” Ashcraft says. “I feel like I related with people who struggled or who were affected by different policies or how cities worked. I was interested and passionate about understanding them.”

As a college student, he initially pursued a degree in sociology before a professor introduced him to what was then a new degree in public policy and administration.

“I was really excited about that,” Ashcraft recalls. “That was around the same time I was pursuing a lot of volunteer work with the university, serving on different councils and working my way up to the student representative council. Representing the students to the administration is something I really enjoyed.”

He interviewed several local mayors before graduation. It helped him land an internship with the city of Ammon.

He and his wife, Tiffany, have two young children. They love living in Idaho Falls and look forward to meeting voters during a campaign kickoff event along the greenbelt at Taylor’s Crossing on Sept. 16. The event will start at 7 p.m.

He’s inviting residents to come meet him so that they feel confident in voting for him on Nov. 4.