U.S. Senate Craig Vs. Minnick: Longtime Incumbent Senator Faces Challenge From Executive, Former Nixon Aide
The competition for Idaho’s U.S. Senate seat hasn’t elicited candidates of such differing backgrounds for a long time.
Incumbent Larry Craig, a Republican, is an Idaho ranch kid who has been running for office since before he left high school and the ranch.
Challenger Walt Minnick, a self-proclaimed Independent running as a Democrat, has been chasing the Fortune 500 executive’s dream.
Minnick went to Harvard for his law and business degrees, served in the U.S. Army and helped design the Drug Enforcement Agency as a 27-year-old aide in Nixon’s White House.
After resigning in protest over Watergate, Minnick went to Boise and started to work for Trus Jois Corp., a wood products company.
In a few years, he was running the outfit, now called TJ International. While he kept the company largely profitable, his push to transform the company from a Fortune 1000 firm into a Fortune 500 company led to high-risk, money-losing ventures and cost Minnick his job a few years ago.
Now he’s pursuing the Senate seat, advertising his business acumen as the ticket to balancing the budget in a year.
He’s an avid backer of campaign finance reform and has targeted Craig’s foot-dragging on getting nuclear waste out of Idaho as campaign themes.
Craig, meanwhile, earned a political science degree from University of Idaho, did graduate work at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., was an aide to U.S. Rep. Orval Hansen, R-Idaho, and a speech writer for then Interior Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton.
He went back to the ranch for a few years, spent about 18 months in the Idaho National Guard, and then went to the Legislature in 1975.
In 1981, Craig became Idaho’s First District Congressman and in 1991 he went to the U.S. Senate.
Craig is a longtime champion of the balanced budget amendment and came within a vote of persuading Congress to follow his lead.
He took a high-profile role in attacking the FBI over its handling of the Randy Weaver debacle at Ruby Ridge.
His unwavering stance on gun control is legendary and he is the only member of Congress to remain on the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors.
He is an adoptive parent and behind the scenes he has worked to make it easier for couples to adopt children.
Craig is an unabashed champion of the mining, logging and agriculture industries, saying people are more important to him than “trees, rocks and fish.”
With the conservative shift in the Senate and the resignation of Majority Leader Bob Dole, Craig has risen to the number four position in Senate leadership.
He now is chairman of the Republican Steering Committee.
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This sidebar appeared with the story: WHERE THEY STAND … Here are the positions on selected issues of the two major-party candidates for Idaho’s U.S. Senate seat.
ABORTION LARRY CRAIG Opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and where a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother.
WALT MINNICK Believes abortions should be “safe, legal and rare.” Late-term abortions should be allowed only in cases of danger to the life or health of the mother.
BALANCING THE BUDGET CRAIG Longtime champion of a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. Proposes a 3 percent cap on spending increases and cuts to unnecessary programs. Supports Bob Dole’s call for a tax cut and budget cuts, not including any cuts to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.
MINNICK Has proposed a list of specific cuts that when complete will total $120 billion, all to be made in the first year. The cuts focus on what he calls waste and corporate welfare, from eliminating export subsidies and congressional franking to consolidating U.S. intelligence agencies and charging federal employees for parking. Believes balancing the budget immediately is essential to avoid damage to the nation’s economy.
NUCLEAR WASTE CRAIG Supports Gov. Phil Batt’s agreement with the federal government on nuclear waste. Supports finishing a temporary storage facility in New Mexico and moving the waste to that facility until a permanent site if finished in Nevada.
MINNICK Opposes Gov. Phil Batt’s agreement with the federal government on nuclear waste. Supports negotiating a new agreement with tougher financial penalties, stricter cleanup time lines and more money. Wants waste that would be shipped to Idaho under governor’s agreement to stay where it’s generated until the nation has a permanent repository.
GUN CONTROL CRAIG Voted against the Brady Bill and opposes a waiting period for handgun purchases. Supports instant background checks for people buying handguns.
MINNICK Opposes gun control. Likes the way Brady Law was implemented in Idaho with instant background checks, but opposes waiting periods for gun purchases. Would support repealing Brady Bill in favor of instant check program. Thinks assault weapon ban was too broad, but wouldn’t support its repeal because he wants certain military weapons banned.
NATIONAL FOREST LOGGING CRAIG Supports below cost timber sales. Believes they are a necessary tool for managing national forests. Proposes federal legislation to expedite logging to reduce fire danger and eliminate what he characterizes as diseased, dead and dying trees.
MINNICK Opposes below-cost timber sales as an unwarranted subsidy of private business. Has proposed putting public timber sales in 10-year plans, so they’re all approved at once. Says that would allow initial challenges, but then would provide companies and communities with certainty on timber harvest.
This sidebar appeared with the story: WHERE THEY STAND … Here are the positions on selected issues of the two major-party candidates for Idaho’s U.S. Senate seat.
ABORTION LARRY CRAIG Opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and where a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother.
WALT MINNICK Believes abortions should be “safe, legal and rare.” Late-term abortions should be allowed only in cases of danger to the life or health of the mother.
BALANCING THE BUDGET CRAIG Longtime champion of a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. Proposes a 3 percent cap on spending increases and cuts to unnecessary programs. Supports Bob Dole’s call for a tax cut and budget cuts, not including any cuts to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.
MINNICK Has proposed a list of specific cuts that when complete will total $120 billion, all to be made in the first year. The cuts focus on what he calls waste and corporate welfare, from eliminating export subsidies and congressional franking to consolidating U.S. intelligence agencies and charging federal employees for parking. Believes balancing the budget immediately is essential to avoid damage to the nation’s economy.
NUCLEAR WASTE CRAIG Supports Gov. Phil Batt’s agreement with the federal government on nuclear waste. Supports finishing a temporary storage facility in New Mexico and moving the waste to that facility until a permanent site if finished in Nevada.
MINNICK Opposes Gov. Phil Batt’s agreement with the federal government on nuclear waste. Supports negotiating a new agreement with tougher financial penalties, stricter cleanup time lines and more money. Wants waste that would be shipped to Idaho under governor’s agreement to stay where it’s generated until the nation has a permanent repository.
GUN CONTROL CRAIG Voted against the Brady Bill and opposes a waiting period for handgun purchases. Supports instant background checks for people buying handguns.
MINNICK Opposes gun control. Likes the way Brady Law was implemented in Idaho with instant background checks, but opposes waiting periods for gun purchases. Would support repealing Brady Bill in favor of instant check program. Thinks assault weapon ban was too broad, but wouldn’t support its repeal because he wants certain military weapons banned.
NATIONAL FOREST LOGGING CRAIG Supports below cost timber sales. Believes they are a necessary tool for managing national forests. Proposes federal legislation to expedite logging to reduce fire danger and eliminate what he characterizes as diseased, dead and dying trees.
MINNICK Opposes below-cost timber sales as an unwarranted subsidy of private business. Has proposed putting public timber sales in 10-year plans, so they’re all approved at once. Says that would allow initial challenges, but then would provide companies and communities with certainty on timber harvest.