State Democrats To File Complaint On Chenoweth Loan

Although Republican Rep. Helen Chenoweth denies there’s anything wrong about the way she has listed a $40,000 loan, Democrats say they plan to file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission about it.

In an appearance before the Idaho Press Club on Friday, Chenoweth said West One Bank did her no special favor when it made a $40,000 unsecured loan to her.

State Democratic Chairman Bill Mauk said he will file a complaint with federal election officials within the month. Mauk said he did nothing earlier because he assumed federal officials were investigating on their own.

As she was amending her federal campaign financial report for the second time in three weeks, Chenoweth fended off questions about how she secured the loan without pledging any physical assets - such as stocks, real estate or personal property.

Chenoweth said that holding public office helped her efforts to get a loan: The loan approval, coming two weeks after she defeated two-term Democratic congressman Larry LaRocco, showed that bank officials figured she was a good risk.

“The $40,000 signatory loan was based on my ability to pay and my willingness to pay,” she said. “I’m a public person. If I didn’t pay my debt, that sure would be written up.”

Chenoweth says she plans to take out a second mortgage on her Boise home in time to pay off the loan, due Nov. 23. She has made no payments yet.

Besides raising questions about the loan, Mauk said he will ask for an investigation into whether Chenoweth co-mingled campaign and personal funds by paying money to her former business, Consulting Associates.

Chenoweth’s Aug. 1 report said she paid $2,028 to the firm during the first half of the year and owed another $3,821.

“Helen Chenoweth has been around politics virtually all of her adult life,” Mauk said. “I find it unbelievable that this loan issue was a mere oversight or a clerical mistake on her part.”

She emerged from the 1994 campaign $170,000 in debt. Six months into her term, Chenoweth had erased $19,000 of that debt, even though she raised $122,186 during that period. Included in that debt is $55,000 owed to third parties.