Candidate Discloses Net Worth Of $500,000 Simpson First In 2nd District To File Personal Statement

House Speaker Michael Simpson reported a net worth on Monday of around $500,000 in the personal financial disclosure statement required in his bid for the Republican congressional nomination in the 2nd District.

Simpson’s disclosure statement showed assets ranging up to $920,000 in value excluding his Blackfoot home and Teton Valley getaway condominium. But he also reported liabilities totaling as much as $465,000 excluding mortgages on the two homes.

Simpson also said he and his wife earned as much as $108,000 last year from their investments, primarily retirement accounts, along with his salary as a dentist of just over $89,000 and his wife’s of nearly $63,000 as an employee of Lockheed Martin Idaho Technology Co.

The federal disclosure law does not require reporting the exact value of various assets but only where they fall in ranges. Under that scheme, Simpson’s assets ranged from $413,000 to $920,000 while liabilities ranged from $226,000 to $465,000.

Simpson is the first of the candidates in the 2nd District race to file the personal disclosure form that is required within 30 days of becoming a candidate.

His was not received by the U.S. House of Representatives until March 4 although he qualified as an official candidate in late 1997 after spending more than $5,000 on his campaign.

State Rep. Mark Stubbs, a Twin Falls attorney, formally declared himself a candidate on Jan. 10 for the seat being given up by three-term Republican Michael Crapo to run for the Senate.

State Sen. Stan Hawkins, a Ucon businessman, filed a declaration of candidacy with the Secretary of State of Feb. 12. He has previously said he spent $10,000 on polling early this year.

Former state Sen. Ann Rydalch of Idaho Falls, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in the southern and eastern Idaho district in 1990, declared herself a candidate on Feb. 20 in a statement on the Statehouse steps but had made a similar declaration a number of days earlier in Twin Falls.

The secretary of state had no personal financial disclosure statements from the three on file Monday.

Former state Sen. Dane Watkins of Idaho Falls has indicated some interest in joining the field. He ran unsuccessfully against former Democratic Congressman Richard Stallings in 1988.

Stallings, who left the House six years ago for an unsuccessful Senate bid, has indicated he will try to get his old seat back.