ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BVA
TOMMY AHLQUIST: Eighty-two years have passed says without hesitation when since Jimmy Stewart faced down asked about running for governor. the American political machine as “Once I saw the underbelly of polBY KAREN DAY an impassioned, naïve senator in itics even in this small state, and Frank Capra’s classic, Mr. Smith the personal toll on my family…” Goes to Washington. Interviewing Tommy Ahlquist brings to mind Ahlquist pauses, staring out the window as if he is watching his the film and how his life offers a good plotline for a modern-day past play out like a baseball game in the large open fields beyond sequel. Middle-aged, wizened-yet-tarnished by reality, the altruisthe sprawling Ball Ventures Ahlquist (BVA) office complex along tic main character finds future success as a doctor, businessman, I-84 in Meridian. “That said, those two years of campaigning husband, father, and grandfather, evolving beyond disillusionment were probably one of the greatest experiences of my life,” he into a faith-bound, community leader—which also sounds a lot continues. “The friendships I made all over the state, the personal like the sequel to It’s a Wonderful Life. Either way, in the movie growth, taking that risk, losing—without those experiences I version, the good guy never loses. Nor does he suffer two nearwould be a different person. For all that, I’m grateful.” death heart failures before he is 53. Grateful is a word Ahlquist uses often, but not blithely. Born Looking at Ahlquist today, he appears anything but comproand raised in a small mining town in Utah, he escaped the mised by a congenital heart condition or his loss in Idaho’s 2018 predictable fate of working in the Kennecott copper mines by gubernatorial race. Fit, tan, and 6 feet 4 inches tall, he leans back playing basketball, which led him to Idaho and becoming the in his office chair with hands behind his head, legs outstretched, first in his family to attend college. “All my relatives worked in offering contemplative and articulate explanations of an array the mines, including my dad. I always wanted to be a doctor. To of subjects, including emergency medicine, Idaho’s far-right make a difference, like our town physician, Dr. Knowles. He had legislative war cries, his last thoughts facing death, and a stinging a noble position. He helped people, passed out lollipops, and political defeat. “Looking back, I wouldn’t do it again,” Ahlquist drove a nice car. So, as soon as my residency was over, I came
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