Interestingly, the Eagle café where GOP Rep. Raul Labrador met with an overflow crowd of constituents today, Wild West Bakery & Espresso, is owned by a former Democratic candidate for the same congressional seat the Labrador holds today. Naomi Preston, who also is a champion equestrian endurance rider, challenged then-1^st District GOP Rep. Butch Otter in 2004; she took 30.5 percent of the vote to Otter’s 69.5 percent.

Labrador’s staff had reserved the back room at the café for a round-table discussion today, anticipating about 10 or 12 people, but the crowd quickly outgrew the room, so it moved to the café’s front patio, filling every seat plus leaving some standing. At the end of today’s event, Labrador apologized to Preston for interfering with business at the café, but she responded that she welcomed it and would be glad to have him back.

Labrador is in the midst of a series of mini-town halls in all 19 counties in the 1^st Congressional District. A session in Wallace last week drew about 18 people; one in McCall a day earlier drew a dozen. This afternoon, Labrador is speaking at Meridian City Hall, where he drew a crowd of about 75; on Aug. 8, he’ll be in Payette, Midvale and Council. The full schedule is online here.