Brooklyn, N.Y. attorney William Bryk, who's running in the Democratic primary for the seat now held by GOP U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, still hasn't been to Idaho - or anywhere west of Buffalo, N.Y, he told Eye on Boise. Nor does he plan to visit between now and the primary election on May 25th.

Why not? "Because, for one thing, at the moment I have a law practice here that's moderately busy and my clients have paid me some money, and they expect me to be around to do things like show up in court," Bryk said in a telephone interview. "What I have been doing is responding to questionnaires from all manner of people, most of which seem to deal largely with guns and gay marriage and abortion. ... I haven't heard from a single union or any similar kind of left-of-center or progressive or union group. But one can always hope."

He's raised no campaign funds, and all he's spent is "the $500 that I invested in paying the filing," Bryk said. So, was it worth it? "Oh, absolutely," he said. "Because first of all, much to my surprise, the Democrats will have a choice in the primary and one way or another the voters will definitely have a choice come November. That was why I became a candidate in the first place. The absence of opposition, well, that's not there now, in fact even Sen. Crapo has a primary. So I think to that extent I've succeeded." Bryk added that while he doesn't know the other candidates, he figures his long-distance campaign helped draw attention to the fact that Crapo went unopposed six years ago but for a write-in challenger.

Tom Sullivan of Tetonia also is running in the Democratic primary, and real estate broker Claude "Skip" Davis III of Weiser is challenging Crapo in the GOP primary.

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