Cash fuels governor race

BOISE – Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brady loaned his campaign $300,000 in the final month leading up to the election, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday, enabling him to match Republican Butch Otter’s spending on TV campaign commercials.

The cash infusion was made before poll results came out showing the race had tightened to a statistical dead heat – the closest race for governor Idaho has seen in over a decade.

“When it came down to it, I wanted to raise all the money, but I couldn’t get there to what was necessary to win,” Brady said. “I feel good about it, I’m glad I did it. It’s an honorable use of the good fortune I’ve had in life. I think it was a good investment in the future of Idaho.”

Brady said he took out a loan from the Bank of Idaho in Idaho Falls for the campaign funds.

Otter campaigned in Boise Tuesday with Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican who’s considering a run for president in 2008, and GOP Sen. Larry Craig. Romney was in the midst of a series of stops to boost GOP gubernatorial candidates and was on his way to Oregon next.

Craig said, “The momentum we are now building in the final week will move those polls substantially.”

Campaign finance reports filed by both candidates on Tuesday showed that Otter raised $313,903 from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21, while Brady raised $413,425, including the $300,000 loan, in the same time period. Aside from the Oct. 11 loan, nearly all of Brady’s contributions came from individuals, plus some union money. Otter’s fundraising was heavy on businesses, PACs and interest groups as well as individuals.

Otter had $262,675 in the bank at the end of the reporting period to Brady’s $146,470. Both candidates have raised over a million dollars this calendar year – Brady’s raised $1.1 million to Otter’s $1.4 million.

Both campaigns reported that their major expenses were for television advertising. Otter reported spending more than $575,000 on TV advertising during the first three weeks of October, while Brady reported spending more than $635,000.

In addition, the Republican Governors Association has been running an independent TV ad attacking Brady, and it filed a report showing it spent $235,280 against Brady since Oct. 27. The Idaho Republican Party reported that it spent $20,000 on Oct. 26 on advertising to benefit Otter, and the Idaho Realtors PAC reported spending nearly $30,000 on its own independent mailing campaign in support of Otter.

Former Democratic state Rep. Ken Robison reported spending $83 for his own independent flier in support of Brady.

Otter’s campaign report included donations from groups like the Idaho Truck PAC, $5,000; Simplot Corp., $5,000; Washington Group International, $5,000; and Chevron-Texaco of Salt Lake City, $2,500. His report also showed a transfer of $64,800 from his congressional campaign fund to the gubernatorial campaign that boosted his fundraising total.

Brady spent $18,000 for polling on Oct. 3, and another $10,000 on Oct. 20. He released his own poll showing him edging ahead of Otter several days before the independent poll came out.

Since the close of the reporting period on Oct. 21, the campaigns have been required to file additional reports within 48 hours of any contribution of $1,000 or more. Otter has reported $33,000 in those late, large contributions, from a mix of individuals and businesses, while Brady has reported $35,200, almost all from individuals.

Jasper LiCalzi, a political scientist at Albertson College of Idaho, said the poll appears to have energized people on both sides to pay attention to the race, as well as energizing both candidates. The poll allowed Brady “to tell people, ‘Hey, I’ve got a chance,’ ” LiCalzi said. “It’s been a long time since a Democratic candidate for governor has been able to say that.” Plus, LiCalzi said of Otter, “When’s the last time he’s run this hard?”

Brady said he had a long-scheduled lunch appearance this week before the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce – and Otter decided on a day’s notice to come, too. Each candidate spoke for 20 minutes and then the two took questions. “We had a good exchange,” Brady said.

Otter said Tuesday, “We knew it was going to tighten up.”

LiCalzi said the heightened interest in the governor’s race could spur higher turnout in Tuesday’s election. “Bam, in the last week or so it’s exploded – everybody’s talking about it,” he said.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa predicted Tuesday that 63 percent of Idaho voters will cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. “We are expecting our highest non-presidential year turnout since 1994, when 67 percent of the registered voters cast ballots,” Ysursa said. “In 2002, the turnout was 61 percent of the registered voters.”