Crapo kicks off campaign for re-election to Senate

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo announced his re-election bid Thursday, saying his top priority - just as it was when he first headed to Congress 12 years ago - is to balance the federal budget.

"There has been excessive spending in Washington," said Crapo.

He acknowledged that the nation has slid back from a balanced budget to a huge deficit since his party has been in control, but said that came in part because of an economic slump, the 2001 terrorist attacks and the continuing war against terrorism.

Before that, he said, "We balanced the budget." Now, he expects the next balanced budget to be at least five years away.

The first-term Republican senator and former 2nd District congressman is unopposed in his reelection bid at this point, but he said he'll campaign hard anyway. "I take nothing for granted," he said. Crapo, 52, said he expects to be in the Coeur d'Alene area every month from now through the election. "We are going to be campaigning throughout the state of Idaho very aggressively," he said.

A Harvard-educated attorney from Idaho Falls, Crapo has established a conservative voting record in the Senate, but also prides himself on bringing a collaborative approach to environmental issues, which he said had been too focused in the past on conflict.

Crapo announced his re-election bid on the state Capitol steps, and found a huge crowd of GOP legislators, state elected officials and others there to back him. Among them were his new campaign cochairmen, retired U.S. Sen. James McClure and the state's first lady, Patricia Kempthorne.

Crapo has no announced challengers, but Idaho Democrats said Thursday they were "actively pursuing a couple of different alternatives."

"We recognize he's a strong incumbent, but we realize it's important that there's a healthy public debate about the issues that are facing our country and our state," said Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Maria Weeg.

Crapo said his role on the Senate Budget Committee is integral to resurrecting the nation's finances, and membership on the environmental subcommittees serves Idaho's resource interests. Despite differences on some key issues, leaders of Idaho's environmental community were among those in the crowd, wearing "Mike Crapo for U.S. Senate" stickers on their coats.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne told the crowd, "I will work diligently to see that he is re-elected as a United States senator from the great state of Idaho."

The Idaho Falls lawmaker, a former president-pro tem of the state Senate, heads into the campaign with more than $1.1 million in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Crapo made sure he was prepared for any political contingency by using 2003 to raise nearly $1.2 million, most of which is still unspent.

Crapo served eight years in the Idaho Senate and then six years as representative from the 2nd Congressional District before winning election to the U.S. Senate. He defeated former state Democratic Chairman Bill Mauk in 1998 with 69.5 percent of the vote.

Crapo and his wife, Susan, have five children, the youngest of whom is 17.

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