Idaho GOP Sen. Mike Crapo announced today that former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, also a Republican and former Idaho senator, has endorsed Crapo’s re-election bid, something that’s hardly a surprise. Crapo is seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate, after serving three terms in the U.S. House and eight years in the Idaho Senate, where he was president pro tem from 1988 to 1992.

A week ago, Crapo announced that he’d raised another $660,000 in the third quarter of this year for his re-election campaign, bring his campaign warchest to $4,495,000. He currently has no announced opposition.

Crapo released this statement from Kempthorne, who also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior and mayor of Boise in his political career: “During Mike’s service, the people of Idaho have been well represented as he has tenaciously fought for conservative solutions that reflect the values of our state. With all the challenges that currently face our nation, it is of the utmost importance to have his effective conservative leadership in Washington D.C. I urge my fellow Idahoans to join me in supporting Mike Crapo.”

It’s no coincidence that Kempthorne’s statement repeats the word “conservative” twice. Crapo has been leaning hard to the right as he campaigns for another term in the Senate, in an effort to avoid a primary challenge two years after his surprising and uncharacteristic drunken driving arrest in Virginia. Today’s announcement, like every campaign press release Crapo has issued this year, says Crapo is “an unwavering conservative” and notes his A+ rating from the NRA and his 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. All told, today’s press release contains the word “conservative” five times.