Craig Still Paying Off Election Bills Out-Of-State Money From Pacs Helping To Retire $200,000 Debt

Republican Sen. Larry Craig fell short of paying off a substantial debt from his 1996 re-election campaign during the first half of this year, according to his latest financial disclosure statement.

The report filed with the secretary of state late Thursday showed Craig covering $138,000 of the debt, paying off all his creditors except for campaign manager Mike Reynoldson and campaign adviser Al Henderson.

Although he raised nearly $203,000 from January through June on top of the $5,000 he already had in cash, $60,000 was spent to maintain political operations during the first half of this year.

He opened July with a cash balance of $16,000, but he still owes Henderson $34,000 and Reynoldson $7,000.

Craig, who spent $2.7 million to claim 57 percent of the vote against Democrat Walt Minnick and his $2.1 million effort, paid out $11,000 in April and May to Virginia fundraising consultant Richardson Ziebart Consulting. But the champion of the balanced budget amendment came out of election day with nearly $200,000 in unpaid bills.

Reynoldson said early this year that the campaign would look to out-of-state supporters to retire the debt, and almost $150,000 of the money Craig raised this year came from outside Idaho.

Two-thirds of all the cash he raised also came from special interest political action committees. And $30,000, nearly a quarter of that amount, came from electric industry interests and sponsors of the June 30 Power Summit organized by Craig.

Critics say the event was a rally for electricity deregulation in a state that already has the lowest power rates in the nation and whose officials question whether there is anything to gain from competition in the electricity industry.