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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Top recipient of Idahoans’ presidential campaign contributions so far: Rand Paul, followed by Ben Carson

How engaged are Idahoans so far in the 2016 presidential race? Measured at least by Idahoans who are reaching into their wallets, according to the latest campaign finance reports the answer is $113,160 worth. That’s how much Idahoans have contributed to all presidential candidates through June 30. Republican Rand Paul had the highest total from Idahoans, at $24,011, but he was closely followed by Republican Ben Carson, at $23,806.

Next in line: Democrat Hillary Clinton, $16,825; followed by Republicans Ted Cruz, $14,686; Marco Rubio, $11,895; and Jeb Bush, $8,100; and Democrat Bernie Sanders, $6,163. Trailing were Republicans Carly Fiorina, $3,225; Rick Perry, $2,700; and Mike Huckabee, $1,000.

Idahoans had given more to presidential candidates as of the first report than donors in Montana, who’d given $98,736, or Wyoming, $86,111; but less than those in Utah, who gave $169,960; Oregon, $406,869; or Washington, at $1,325,004. Clinton was the biggest beneficiary of those Washington contributions, at $738,490.

Carson was the top recipient of contributions from Wyoming; Cruz from Montana; Clinton from Oregon; and in Utah, Clinton was on top with $30,301, but closely followed by Jeb Bush at $28,350. Carson is a retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon and author who first drew national attention for his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013; a conservative, he joined the Republican Party in 2014 and said he planned to run for president.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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