City council seats are non-partisan. All the same, those elected can and do express political beliefs. Before the 2021 election, Boise’s city council was dominated by Democrats.

“I am the new kid on the block,” Willits said. “But in two years that could be radically different … I’m just the beginning.”

Her roots

Willits, 46, grew up a far cry from the streets of the North End. She was raised in a double wide trailer down a private dirt road in Grant, an eastern Idaho community outside of Idaho Falls which she described as a “wide spot in the road.”

Even in Grant, she was on an island: Willits recalls the school bus not picking her up at her house like it did for all the other kids.

It was in this small Jefferson County unincorporated community that she met her husband Mike. The two became archenemies over a recurring school assignment and she disliked him for years. She dated his best friend, then later broke up with the friend, and married Mike in college. At 21 she gave birth to their first child. Just a few days after the birth, she was back in class.

The couple recently celebrated a “hard fought” 25 years, Willits said.

Though Willits has been interested in politics since she was a young child, it was her family that pushed her on the way to being at the forefront of possible political change in Idaho’s largest city.

Willits was 5 years old in 1980, when her political hero Ronald Reagan was elected as president. She has early memories of her mom crying when Reagan was shot in 1981.

She felt “immense patriotism” and as if the country was a city on a hill when she was a child, she said, during his presidency. Willits even alluded to the phrase as she was sworn in to the Boise City Council last month, wearing a red dress.

“I think I’m the Republican version of Leslie Knope,” Willits said. “I wouldn’t go gaga like she did meeting Joe Biden. I went gaga when I met Ronald Reagan.”

Leslie Knope is a fictional government worker on the show Parks and Recreation who is the ultimate go-getter. Knope believes very passionately in serving the community and loves working, paperwork, her friends and waffles.

Her friend since college, Jennifer Shurbet, agreed. “I think Luci is idealistic in the fact that she has a big positive vision and she has so much enthusiasm,” Shurbet said. “They end up in crazy circumstances, which Luci can manage to do that, but that as far as some of the quirkiness, Luci is a little more grounded than Leslie is.”

As a child, Willits’ rural roots shaped her life and her sense of community, among other things.

“I joke that when you grow up in rural America, and you are tied to the land, you learn an incredible level of accountability,” Willits said. “Because if you don’t do your chores, if you don’t do your job, something dies.”

Her path

After high school, Willits briefly attended Ricks College, less than an hour away from her hometown. She then transferred to Idaho State University in Pocatello, where she majored in American studies and minored in marketing. She was the editor of her school newspaper. Her husband was student body president.

In her first year of college, a professor encouraged students to write 50 lifetime goals. Willits wrote the most “outlandish” things she could come up with, she said. One of the goals was to meet Reagan and shake his hand.

After her freshman year, she got his address from her internship with a senator. She wrote to him, and with a roommate and her roommates’ father, was able to fly down to California to meet with him.

“I do believe in a universe that puts things in front of you, you can call it God, you can call it karma, you can call it, you can call it the secret, whatever you call it,” Willits said. “I do believe that you are put in a path at a certain time to fulfill your best potential.”

Similarly, her campaign was not on her radar until recently. But her eldest daughter’s birth set Willits on the path to where she is now.

Originally a broadcast journalism major, Willits knew a career in television would not be conducive with a young family.

“News doesn’t wait for a babysitter,” she said.

When she graduated, she went into print journalism. Willits called Rep. Mike Simpson’s office for a story and asked for the press secretary. The office didn’t have one, but Willits ended up applying and started her path in government working in that capacity for Simpson.

She moved to the State Board of Education doing policy work and communications and then worked for the Idaho State Department of Education as the chief of staff. She now works in the private sector for an educational research company, which she’s balancing with her work on the city council.

She originally wanted to be Katie Couric, said Shurbet, her friend from college. When Shurbet heard Willits was planning to run for council, her first reaction was “It’s about time.”

“We were just waiting,” Shurbet said. “I just knew that she was ready and needed to serve in a capacity of the community.”

A different voice

Willits leaned forward at a Boise City Council meeting last month to ask a question. City staff were giving a presentation about hiring struggles and Willits wanted to know how the city’s vaccine mandate had affected any potential employees.

“I think that I am asking questions that probably weren’t asked before in a public setting,” Willits said. “I’m new and I’m able to bring a different perspective than other members of the council. And I think that’s very healthy.”

Willits could be the first in a string of new conservative faces on the city council in one of the more liberal cities in the state, though it could still be an uphill battle for conservatives.

With that said, Idaho Republican Party Chairman Tom Luna said the district elections in Boise have created opportunities for the GOP that didn’t exist in citywide races.

“Luci’s race was the first one we really leaned in and worked hard and we were successful,” Luna said. “We hope we find a recipe for winning in the future.”

Several legislative districts in the Boise area are represented by Democrats, meaning voters within city limits are open to Democratic candidates.

“It’s a small number of voters that can change an election for city council,” Boise State University School of Public Service Professor Stephanie Witt said. “Especially in those off years when turnout is 10% to 20%.”

In the state House of Representatives, opponents of district elections were mostly Democrats from Boise. They argued the bill would selectively remove local control from a small area, create the possibility for gerrymandering and decrease competition for seats, the Idaho Press previously reported.

The Ada County Democrats, as well as Boise City Councilmembers Lisa S{span}ànchez and Holli Woodings did not return request for comments for this story.{/span}

The advantage of district elections is about representing different parts of the city, Witt said.

For example, though part of Willits’ platform involves fiscal conservatism and opposing calls to “defund the police,” she also said she wants to represent the interests of West Boiseans.

“I think it’s a game changer,” Willits said. “I think people are craving representation.”