40
party insiders put this candidate on the Rigged Red Card
Documented Record
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No Senator Vote
Rigged Red Card, Last Straw · November 2026
- Signed the Idaho GOP's Integrity in Affiliation pledge in 2024 and 2026.
- The pledge accepts the party platform as the standard for performance in office.
- The platform calls for repealing the 17th Amendment, which lets voters elect U.S. senators.
- Listed no exception to the repeal.
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Primary Source2024 Integrity in Affiliation list, Idaho Republican PartyCandidate listed as signing the pledge with no exceptions.
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Primary Source2026 Integrity in Affiliation list, Idaho Republican PartyCandidate listed as signing the pledge with no exceptions.
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Ethics cases against Idaho legislators are public. This proposal would curb that
Spokesman-Review · March 2026 (archive)
- He introduced a bill to make House ethics hearings secret from the public.
- The public hearings he wanted to close are the same ones that led to a rape conviction.
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Primary SourceHR 027 – Idaho Legislature, 2026 sessionBarbieri's proposal to close ethics hearings to the public
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Idaho House ethics trials would be secret under new bill
Boise State Public Radio · March 2026 (archive)
- He testified for a convicted rapist during his ethics trial and sent the sentencing judge a letter of support on official state letterhead.
- He is now trying to close the public hearings that produced that conviction.
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Primary SourceBarbieri's character reference letter for Aaron von EhlingerObtained via public records request by Boise State Public Radio, September 2022
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Voted no on Benji's Law, requiring safety checks for newborns with parents with documented abuse history
KTVB · March 2026
- Voted no on HB 776, which requires child welfare workers to respond within 12 hours when a newborn's parents have a documented history of abuse or prior termination of parental rights.
- The bill was named for 12-day-old Benjamin Lemke of Nampa, who died after his parents had previously lost five children to the state for abuse.
- The House passed the bill 49-18; it was signed into law April 2, 2026.
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Primary SourceIdaho Legislature - HB 776 roll callOfficial House vote record: Barbieri listed in NAYS (49-18-3, March 2026)
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Two Idaho Republicans sent a judge letters of support for convicted rapist
Idaho Capital Sun · September 2022 (archive)
- He wrote to the judge on official letterhead calling a convicted rapist "upstanding" and "genuine in character."
- The victim was a 19-year-old legislative intern.
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'Is transparency so paramount...?' Idaho lawmaker argues for private ethics hearings
Boise State Public Radio · December 2021 (archive)
- He called the public ethics hearings a "fiasco" and pushed to close future ones.
- A fellow Republican said his plan would leave "everything veiled in secrecy."
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House Ethics Committee Navigates "Unwritten Rules" In Complaint Over Rape Allegations
Boise State Public Radio · April 2021 (archive)
- Barbieri testified for von Ehlinger at the House Ethics Committee hearing on the rape allegation.
- He called von Ehlinger nothing but a gentleman in their dealings.
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Primary SourceHouse Ethics Committee hearing on Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, April 28, 2021 (video)Rep. Dorothy Moon's testimony at the same hearing, 9:37
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Idaho Rep. Vito Barbieri's abortion question stirs up social media
Spokesman-Review · February 2015 (archive)
- While voting on abortion law, he asked a doctor if a woman could swallow a camera for a gynecological exam.
- The doctor had to explain that swallowed pills don't reach the vagina.
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Primary SourceHB 154 – Idaho Legislature, 2015 sessionBill banning telemedicine abortion prescriptions that prompted the exchange
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Anti-abortion Idaho Republican asks if you can reach the vagina through the digestive system
Slate · February 2015 (archive)
- Slate was among dozens of national outlets that covered the exchange; the story spread widely on the day it occurred.
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Idaho lawmaker asks about swallowing cameras to get pregnancy pictures
U.S. News & World Report · February 2015 (archive)
- National media covered the exchange as part of a pattern of legislators not understanding basic anatomy.
- He was voting on laws about female reproduction at the time.
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Rep. Barbieri calls on Christians to pull their kids from Idaho's 'Godless' public schools
Spokesman-Review · October 2012 (archive)
- He called Idaho's public schools a "Godless institution" and urged Christians to pull their kids out.
- When asked about it at a debate, he said: "My words exactly."
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Idaho lawmaker stands by calling public schools 'Godless' institutions
Spokesman-Review · October 2012 (archive)
- After the statement attracted wider attention, he publicly stood by it when reporters asked for comment.
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Why did your Republican representative vote to defund the police?
Coeur d'Alene Press · January 2024 (archive)
- He voted against the Idaho State Police budget bill.
- All ten legislators who voted no were top-rated by the KCRCC and the Idaho Freedom Foundation.