Ben Toews

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ben Toews | image = Ben toews by Brady Campbell.jpg | state_senate = Idaho | district = 4th | term_start = December 1, 2022 | predecessor = Mary Souza | children = 5 | party = Republican | education = North Idaho College (AA)<br>Gonzaga University (BBA) }}

'''Benjamin Toews''' is an American politician serving as a member of the Idaho Senate for the 4th district. He assumed office on December 1, 2022. Before becoming a senator, he worked at Bullet Tools, a tool manufacturing company he co-owned with his in-laws.

== Education == Toews earned an associate degree from North Idaho College and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Gonzaga University.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Benjamin Toews|url=https://idgop.org/candidate/benjamin-toews/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=Republican Party of Idaho|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Career == For 17 years, Toews worked for Bullet Tools, a tool manufacturing company he helped launch and co-owned with his in-laws. The company was acquired by the Marshalltown Company in 2019. Toews was elected to the Idaho Senate in November 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Toews|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Ben_Toews|access-date=2022-12-04|website=Ballotpedia|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-02-16|title=Toews announces Senate run|url=https://cdapress.com/news/2022/feb/16/ben-toews-announces-candidacy-idaho-/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=Coeur d'Alene Press|language=en}}</ref>

In 2026, Toews sponsored a bill in the Idaho Senate to prohibit transgender individuals from using the bathrooms for the gender with which they identify. The bathroom bill received criticism for being difficult to enforce, and Toews was accused of legislating against the existence of trans people, but he defended the bill, saying that it was primarily targeted towards sexual predators.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Boone|first1=Rebecca|last2=Mulvhill|first2=Geoff|date=2026-03-27|title=Idaho transgender bathroom bill is the strictest in the nation and likely veto-proof|newspaper=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/idaho-legislature-transgender-bathroom-ban-jail-ee10cda1df43979e0cf92cb73352187e|access-date=2026-03-30}}</ref>

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toews, Ben}} Category:Living people Category:Anti-pornography activists Category:Anti-transgender activists Category:Gonzaga University alumni Category:Politicians from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Category:Republican Party Idaho state senators Category:21st-century members of the Idaho Legislature Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:North Idaho College alumni