Karl Rove, the political consultant and former top advisor to President George W. Bush, will be the keynote speaker at the Idaho Association of General Contractors annual convention in December in Boise. The banquet at which Rove will speak on Dec. 10 at the Boise Centre is open to the public, with tickets set at $110 a person, or $200 including a VIP reception, a photo with Rove and a signed copy of his latest book.

Wayne Hammon, CEO of the Idaho AGC and a former top aide to Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, said, “We are excited to be bringing Mr. Rove to Idaho just weeks before the early presidential caucuses and primaries. This will be an excellent opportunity to hear his thoughts firsthand as we enter the important 2016 election year.”

Hammon, who has headed the contractors group for just over a year, also is a former USDA official in Idaho under the Bush Administration; a former lobbyist for the National Association of Wheat Growers; and a former aide to two U.S. senators, Larry Craig of Idaho and Orrin Hatch of Utah. Asked what Rove and the presidential race has to do with Idaho contractors, Hammon said, “Well, they’re very involved politically and they care about that. But it’s more of, we always look for an interesting speaker, somebody who can keep a room.”

Last year’s speaker was retired Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, the second-winningest coach in NCAA history. “The guys enjoyed it and liked it, so this year we thought we’d do a political angle,” Hammon said. “It’s two days, and most of the convention is construction-specific, so it’s nice to have part of it that’s not. And we thought it’d be good timing with the election coming up.”

Ticket information for the Rove event is online here.