Idaho state Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, who's running for the 1st District congressional seat, has gotten off to a rather slow start in his campaign, lagging far behind fellow GOP hopeful Vaughn Ward in fundraising eight months out from the primary election. As of the last campaign finance report, Roberts had raised $62,021 and had $41,661 in cash in his campaign war chest; Ward, an Iraq war veteran, had raised $245,877 and had $178,533 cash on hand. Now comes the news that Roberts has lost his campaign manager, former GOP legislative candidate Kevin McGowan. McGowan sent out this email today:

"On October 23rd, I told Ken Roberts that I would be resigning as Campaign Manager from the Ken Roberts for Congress campaign.  I said that I would support him until he was ready to manage the campaign without me.   Ken accepted my resignation on November 5th but I wanted to make a formal announcement of that resignation so that questions and calls about the campaign can be properly addressed. All questions about the Ken Roberts for Congress campaign should be directed to kenrobertsforcongress@hotmail.com or the campaign website www.robertsforidaho.com.  I wish the campaign the best of luck in the future and I thank those who were helpful.
    Kind Regards,
    Kevin McGowan"