Idaho Politics: U.S. Senate Race

LaRocco Now a Targeted Candidate for Senate

By Jill Kuraitis, 9-10-08

A recent email from the director of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) asked Idaho Democrats and Independents to “volunteer for Democrat Larry LaRocco’s targeted Senate campaign in Idaho between now and Election Day.”

LaRocco is running against Jim Risch (R) and Rex Rammell (I) for the Senate seat being vacated by Larry Craig.

Both parties have House and Senate campaign committees, which look over the chances and progress of races they think they can win.  When a race becomes targeted, it usually means the committee will offer staff support and/or money to their candidate.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) publishes a list of its targeted races and it’s easy to find out how much money the committee will devote to each race. But the DSCC’s targeting method doesn’t include a publicly available list, according to communications officer Mike Liddell. “We don’t telegraph how much money we’re going to put into each race,” he said.

LaRocco’s campaign manager, Dean Ferguson, said, “Naturally we think this is great news, and it shows that the race is seen by the DSCC as winnable, which is what we’ve been saying all along.”

Matt Ellsworth, Risch’s spokesman, responded, “We have a double-digit lead, and the Risch campaign has no reason to worry.  We will continue to campaign all over Idaho.”

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