Democrats field two candidates for Senate

BOISE – On the Democratic ticket, former two-term Congressman Larry LaRocco and David Archuleta are seeking a chance to fill Idaho’s open U.S. Senate seat.

David Archuleta

Archuleta, 52, is a tribal court advocate from Fort Hall. He has held several tribal positions, including associate tribal judge. A Vietnam veteran, he also worked for 15 years as a radio, television and newspaper journalist.

Archuleta sees reducing energy prices as a top priority and would favor a tax on “excess profits” from oil companies. “The cost of fuel affects everything from the cost of food to the clothing on your back,” he wrote in a candidate survey conducted by the Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise.

On the war in Iraq, Archuleta said, “The president needs to provide us with a workable withdrawal plan. I do not believe we are fighting the right folks. If attacked, we need to punish those who did it, not a third party.”

In a videotaped campaign statement, Archuleta said: “The reason I decided to run is because I feel that Idaho and the country are tired of standard-issue Democrats along with Republicans. … I want to be your U.S. senator because I think it’s time for change. You can’t have change by recycling the same old politicians over and over again.”

Archuleta could not be reached for comment for this article.

Larry LaRocco

LaRocco, 61, of Coeur d’Alene, is a business consultant and former lobbyist and stockbroker, as well as having represented Idaho’s 1st Congressional District in Congress for two terms, before losing to Republican Helen Chenoweth in 1994. LaRocco also served as then-Sen. Frank Church’s North Idaho field representative from 1975 to 1981; ran unsuccessfully against Larry Craig for Congress in 1982; and ran against Jim Risch for lieutenant governor in 2006.

“I’m running because there are too many Idahoans that have been forgotten in Washington, D.C., and they need to have representation and somebody fighting for them,” LaRocco said.

He’s been campaigning by taking jobs for a day at job sites across the state, from hauling garbage in Orofino to assisting the wait staff at Ivano’s Restaurant in Sandpoint; he’s had 20 jobs so far.

“I’ve been working side by side with people, listening to people,” LaRocco said.

LaRocco had a close encounter with terrorism when he was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, and the Baader-Meinhof Gang blew up the building where he worked in 1972. “I lost three friends,” he said.

He favors a Congress that stands up to the president rather than being a “rubber stamp;” health care reforms including doing away with pre-existing conditions, which he said would “open up the whole system and cover people;” and tax incentives for energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy.