Gop’s Crane Files Paperwork For State Treasurer Race

A second Republican has filed organizing papers in anticipation of a campaign to succeed retiring GOP state Treasurer Lydia Justice Edwards.

State Rep. Ron Crane of Caldwell, an eight-term lawmaker who chairs the House State Affairs Committee, filed the paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office on Friday. Crane, a businessman, named his wife, Cheryl, as his campaign treasurer.

U.S. Bank Vice President Trudi Jackson, the wife of state Republican Party Treasurer Rich Jackson, filed her organizing papers earlier this month.

And while he has yet to file anything official, state Sen. Evan Frasure of Pocatello, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, has been surveying party regulars to gauge his support. He said on Friday he would not be making any formal move until late summer.

Edwards is finishing her third term as state treasurer. She served just over two terms in the House in the early 1980s.

There has been little activity among Democrats for that office. Most of the talk in the party has been about a challenger to state Schools Superintendent Anne Fox.