Batt Likely To Run In ‘98

As he collected at least $70,000 at the first fund-raiser of the 1998 campaign, Gov. Phil Batt said he is likely to run for re-election.

“I’m not prepared to make an announcement,” Batt said Friday. “But I do have a strong inclination to run.”

It was the clearest signal yet that Idaho’s first Republican governor in a quarter century, who will turn 70 on March 4, will seek a second term. Batt said he expects “to take another year to think about it.”

He spoke to more than 200 supporters who paid between $250 and $2,500 for tickets to the event.

Batt attended the long-scheduled reception rather than meet Vice President Al Gore, who visited Boise to be briefed on damage from recent flooding and heavy snows. Republican Attorney General Alan Lance, House Speaker Michael Simpson and GOP lawmakers from the affected areas did meet with Gore.