Wells announces run for governor's seat

Everyone is always telling Tamara Wells to run for governor, she said. So she finally listened. "I'm outspoken. I tell it like it is. I listen to the people," the Post Falls hairdresser said on Monday. "I have some great ideas on how to fix a lot of things." After filing her candidacy for governor last month, Wells, 58, touted how she's a good fit for the position.

Everyone is always telling Tamara Wells to run for governor, she said.

So she finally listened.

"I'm outspoken. I tell it like it is. I listen to the people," the Post Falls hairdresser said on Monday. "I have some great ideas on how to fix a lot of things."

After filing her candidacy for governor last month, Wells, 58, touted how she's a good fit for the position.

"Politics is a people business. I work with everybody - Democrats, Republicans," she said. "They're all people and they're all in it for the same thing. To give all Idohoans a better place to live."

Originally from Los Angeles, the Republican has lived in North Idaho for 15 years, and works as a jeweler, hairdresser and a tricologist, helping people regrow lost hair.

"I hear every day of how people are so frustrated with the government that they don't have a voice," Wells said. "I want people to have a say."

Her first move would be to deal with the deficit, she said.

She would audit all state agencies to track how money is being spent, she said, and then present those figures to the people.

"I'll leave it to the people - 'What do you want to happen? How would you budget it?'" Wells said.

The next step would be luring more companies into Idaho to provide jobs.

"We need to go back to mining, we need to go back to lumber and agriculture," she said. "We are that gem state."

She would also pursue a 2 percent sales tax on credit card companies doing business in Idaho.

"Just that 2 percent would get rid of the deficit in one year," she said. "There are ways we can improve the economy without asking the taxpayers to pay for it."

Other ideas Wells wants to look into is a state health care system, which she would develop by consulting with members of the medical industry.

"ObamaCare" isn't the answer to the state's issues with health care, she said.

"We need IdahoCare for those who want it," she said.

Wells, who has been married 33 years, has an ATMA from the University of California.

She asks voters to post their comments and suggestions on her platform at: www.tamarawellsforidahogovernor.com.

Wells promised to be an accessible official.

"My door will always be open," she said. "I'm here to fix whatever you want me to fix."