Be It Governor Or Congressman, Crapo In Good Spot

Idaho Congressman Mike Crapo is sitting pretty.

He’s in perhaps the best position any state politician could be, guaranteed re-election and wondering only whether he should run for governor two years hence.

Gov. Phil Batt could make the decision for him. If Batt runs for a second term in 1998, Crapo will run again in the 2nd District.

“We have a governor who I encouraged to run, and who I helped get elected,” Crapo said. “I’d be out there leading the charge to get him re-elected.

“I am encouraging Gov. Batt to run for a second term. He has been a good governor.”

But if Batt doesn’t seek a second term, Crapo’s 1998 decision will be much harder.

In that case, political pros feel he’d be almost unbeatable for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Crapo has swamped two Democrats in congressional elections, getting more than 60 percent against a strong candidate in 1992 and almost 75 percent over a token opponent two years ago.

With those kind of margins in the 2nd District, he would only have to break even in the rest of the state to capture the nomination.

Twin Falls podiatrist Peter Rickards opposes Crapo in next month’s primary, and John Seidl of Boise seeks the Democratic nomination. Most political observers would be startled if Crapo got less than 60 percent of the vote against either.

But he doesn’t know whether he would run, even if Batt does not.

Crapo denies that money would be a factor in his decision. Batt, as governor, is paid $85,000 per year. Congressman Crapo gets over $50,000 more.

He and wife Susan have five children, the youngest a third-grader and the oldest a high school senior. Crapo is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and might want to send some of his children there. Harvard’s tuition and fees are $20,500 a year - tough to afford on the governor’s salary.

“If they want to go there, I will try my hardest,” Crapo says.

But he said money never has been a factor in his decisions to run for public office. If it had, he never would have left a successful Idaho Falls legal practice for his first congressional campaign in 1992.

More important are family considerations. His family has remained in Idaho Falls during Crapo’s three-plus years in Congress.

“Right now, that would be the deciding factor for me, and it’s a difficult one. I would be able to come back to Idaho on a permanent basis and live with my family. For personal and family reasons, that would be a very desirable option to look at.”

Of course, Crapo has discovered it’s much more exciting to be a part of the majority in Congress than being a minority member with little power. He was in the minority his first two years and part of the GOP majority since 1995. Good things are happening in Congress, he maintains, and “the opportunity for us to change the direction of this country is very real.”