Long odds don’t sway candidate

BOISE — There are lopsided political races all over the nation this election season. Then there’s the U.S. Senate race in Idaho, where the Republican incumbent has $1.3 million waiting to be spent a month before the polls open — and only his name on the ballot.

The closest Sen. Mike Crapo comes to having an opponent is a Democrat who concedes he switched parties just to give voters some semblance of a choice. It’s the first time in state history that Democrats have not fielded a U.S. Senate candidate on the ballot, and Crapo was left unchallenged for the first months of the race.

State Democratic Party director Maria Weeg acknowledged in March that failing to challenge Crapo on the ballot was conceding a huge victory to the Republicans, but she said the party is rebuilding from a miserable showing in the past decade. The party would rather leave the race unchallenged, Weeg said, than put little more than a ballot placeholder.

But that idea did not sit well with Jerome businessman Scott McClure, who announced his write-in campaign in June.

“Of course, we have to make the public aware that there’s even a candidate out there,” McClure said. “But I definitely think that win or lose, the effort is going to be worthwhile. The discussion of the issues is going to benefit all the people of Idaho.”

On those issues, Crapo and McClure have opposing views typical of their respective party’s leanings.

Crapo opposes same-sex civil unions at the federal level, preferring to leave the decision up to the states, and says that if he were a state-level politician he’d vote against them anyway. McClure supports same-sex civil unions but prefers to reserve marriage for two people of different genders.

Crapo wants the United States to scale back financial support of the United Nations, while McClure wants to see the country’s role maintained. McClure supports an incremental increase for the federal minimum wage. Crapo doesn’t.

Still, the biggest difference between the two may be on the ballot — Crapo’s there, McClure’s not.

McClure does not seem to mind the role of underdog.

“Mr. Crapo does have a massive war chest. Really the issue is who the people of Idaho want to represent them in Washington, D.C. Admittedly, it’s much more difficult to get that message out about where I stand,” McClure said. “I have visited a number of public events, fairs and so forth throughout Idaho. I’ve made personal appearances. And it doesn’t require massive amounts of money to have yard signs and those kinds of things to get the message out.”

Crapo, meanwhile, is still raising money. He claimed that most Senate races generally take between $1.5 million and $5 million — even though that’s far more than would likely be needed against a write-in candidate. Even if he felt 100 percent confident, Crapo said, his type-A personality would not let him slow down. Any leftover money, he said, will be used in future campaigns.

“My approach to campaigns is to run like I’m 10 points behind and hope that I don’t have to. I’ve visited 45 different cities in Idaho, had over 100 different events. The campaign isn’t over yet,” Crapo said. “If a candidate took his or her race for granted and said I’m not going to raise any money, that would be a foolish thing. The campaign isn’t over yet.”

It is getting close, however, with just a month left until Election Day.

McClure said he decided to run after realizing Crapo had been left unopposed.

“In a democracy, the people of Idaho need the capability to make a choice for the elected offices and if no one runs against Sen. Crapo they don’t have that choice,” McClure said.

He switched parties before his election bid.

“I’ve always considered myself a moderate Republican, but the cornerstones of that Republican philosophy — which include limited government, fiscally sound government, protection of civil rights and support for armed forces — I believe this administration and the neo-Republican forces have moved away from those principles. So it’s not that I have changed, but the party has changed,” McClure said.

Crapo said he respects McClure’s decision to run.

“I understand his rationale. Choice is one of the great things about our system. In a very real sense, if a person chooses not to run, often it is because they’ve looked at the polls or the potential of a race or the will of the people. In my campaign, regardless of whether I have an opponent, I’m going to go to the Idaho people and ask for their vote,” Crapo said.