Barbara Ehardt is an American politician and former college basketball coach serving as a member of the

Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate se ...

from the 33rd district.

Early life and education

Ehardt was born and raised in

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

. She earned an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

in general studies from

North Idaho College North Idaho College (NIC) is a public community college in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It has an enrollment exceeding 6,000 and is situated at the north end of Lake Coeur d'Alene near downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Tubbs Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho ...

and a Bachelor of Science degree in English and language arts education from

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

, where she played on the

Idaho State Bengals women's basketball The Idaho State Bengals Women's Basketball team represents Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big Sky Conference, and play their home games at Reed Gym Reed or Reeds may refer ...

team.

Career

College basketball

For 15 years, Ehardt worked as an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

women's basketball coach at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, and

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

Politics

In 2003, Ehardt returned to her hometown of

, where she has since operated a sports camp for children and managed basketball programs. Ehardt was appointed to the

on December 27, 2017. In November 2019, Ehardt was labelled "a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

lightning rod" by ''East Idaho News''. During her first term in the House, she authored a bill that would restrict statewide

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

. In the legislature, Ehardt sponsored a bill that would required transgender athletes to play on teams corresponding to the gender they were assigned at birth. The bill has attracted significant criticism, both within

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and nationally. Ehardt was interviewed as a part of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'' is a monthly sports news magazine on HBO. Since its debut on April 2, 1995, the program has been presented by television journalist and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel. Overview Format Each episode consists of fou ...

'', in which she defended the bill.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehardt, Barbara Living people People from Idaho Falls, Idaho Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Idaho State University alumni American women's basketball coaches Year of birth missing (living people) BYU Cougars women's basketball coaches UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball coaches Washington State Cougars women's basketball coaches Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball coaches