A lifelong Idahoan, Russ grew up on a dairy farm in Meridian. He graduated from Meridian High School and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business from Boise State University. He also earned a certificate in electrical engineering theory taught at Micron Technology.

Russ was employed by Micron technology for 15 years, starting as a production line worker on the night shift and working his way up to Director of Sales and Marketing for Micron’s Contract Manufacturing Division. He worked nine years with Preco Electronics, another Boise-based tech company, as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In his years at Micron and Preco, Russ conducted business in all 50 states. He worked as an international business executive promoting Idaho’s economy in 60 countries, while working on site in 36 of them.

In his adult life, Russ has never stopped learning. He served for 10 years as an Idaho State Senator while also working as a commercial realtor. He completed the Legislative Leadership Course in 2007 and earned a certificate of completion in Energy Policy Planning from the University of Idaho in 2012.

While representing the Treasure Valley in the Idaho State Senate for a decade, Russ was an unwavering advocate for conservative principles, responsible governance, and ethical leadership. He understands that “business as usual” is not good enough for Idaho. He has developed innovative solutions to the challenges our state is facing.

In the legislature, Russ led the charge with reforms that truly support Idaho’s families and job creators. His signature legislation, the grocery tax credit, returns more than $100 million to Idaho taxpayers every year. This allows Idahoans to keep more of our hard-earned dollars to spend, save, and invest. Russ also served on the Senate State Affairs and Education Committees. His colleagues elected him to be the Senate Republican Caucus Leader for 6 of the 10 years that he served.

Russ was elected to U.S. Congress in 2018, and re-elected in 2020. He serves on the Natural Resource and Education/Labor committees, where he is the lead republican for the sub-committees on Federal Lands and Human Rights.