Candidate’s Assets At Least $4.2 Million Minnick To Spend $500,000 Of Own Funds To Unseat Larry Craig

When Democratic senatorial candidate Walt Minnick said he would spend $500,000 of his own money, the Boise businessman was pledging as much as 12 percent of his net worth to the uphill campaign to oust Republican Sen. Larry Craig next year.

The personal financial disclosure statement filed on Thursday with the secretary of state’s office showed the former TJ International president had assets worth at least $4.2 million and possibly as much as $9.1 million.

That would make him one of the richest men ever to seek public office in Idaho.

The report also shows that Minnick secured a $500,000 to $1 million loan on a promissory note in 1994 from West One Bank, the bank that loaned Republican Congressman Helen Chenoweth $40,000 on her signature for her political campaign. Because of questions about its validity, Chenoweth paid the loan off several weeks early with proceeds from a seven-year second mortgage on her home.

Minnick said he borrowed the money while making the transition from TJ International and has already repaid it.

He said it had nothing to do with his political campaign.

Anticipating that a successful campaign will cost $2 million, Minnick said his personal commitment is only intended to show other contributors he is serious about challenging Craig.

The disclosure statement, mandated under federal law, requires candidates and officeholders to report the value of their assets and the income derived from them within in ranges so no exact net worth can be established.

By comparison, Craig, who is seeking a second six-year term after eight years in the House, reported assets totaling less than $150,000 - his federal retirement account and a credit union account - in the disclosure statement he filed for 1994. His 1995 disclosure statement is not due until next spring.

Despite having run TJ International for over eight years until his departure at the end of 1994, Minnick valued his holdings in corporate stock at between $500,000 and $1 million, and about $500,000 of that came from stock options he exercised in 1994.

His termination agreement with TJ International also gave him the right to exercise 37,000 shares of stock options next May through July. At the current market price of about $17 a share, those options are worth over $600,000. His salary in 1994 was about $300,000 and his agreement calls for him to receive another year’s pay through next June.