2008 United States Senate election in Idaho

The 2008 United States Senate election in Idaho was held on November 4, 2008. The primary elections were held on May 27.^[1] Incumbent Senator Larry Craig decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Fellow Republican incumbent lieutenant governor and former governor Jim Risch won the open seat.

2008 United States Senate election in Idaho

← 2002 November 4, 2008 2014 →

Nominee Jim Risch Larry LaRocco Rex Rammell Party Republican Democratic Independent Popular vote 371,744 219,903 34,510 Percentage 57.65% 34.11% 5.35%

County results Precinct results Risch:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% LaRocco:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Rammell:      70–80% Marmon:      >90% Tie:      40–50%      No data

U.S. senator before election Larry Craig Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jim Risch Republican

Background

Incumbent Larry Craig announced his intent to resign following an incident where he allegedly solicited another man for gay sex in a public restroom.^[2] Craig later decided not to resign but did announce that he would not seek re-election. The filing deadline for the election was March 21, 2008. A total of 13 candidates filed for the seat.^[3] Republican and Democratic candidates ran for their respective nominations in the May 27 primary.

Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch defeated a crowded field for the Republican nomination, while former Congressman Larry LaRocco won the Democratic nomination in similar fashion. Conservative independents Rex Rammell and Pro-Life (formerly Marvin Richardson) also qualified for the general election ballot. Former Caldwell city council member Kent Marmon secured the Libertarian nomination. In the general election, Risch defeated LaRocco and the other candidates to keep the seat in Republican hands.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jim Risch, Lieutenant Governor of Idaho
• Fred Adams
• Brian Hefner
• Bill Hunter
• Richard Phenneger, Businessman
• Hal James Styles
• Scott Syme, Iraq War veteran^[4]
• Neal Thompson

Results

County results

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Risch	80,743	65.34%
	Republican	Scott Syme	16,660	13.48%
	Republican	Richard Phenneger	6,532	5.29%
	Republican	Neal Thompson	5,375	4.35%
	Republican	Fred M. Adams	4,987	4.04%
	Republican	Bill Hunter	4,280	3.46%
	Republican	Brian E. Hefner	2,915	2.36%
	Republican	Hal James Styles, Jr.	2,082	1.68%
Total votes			123,574	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Larry LaRocco, former U.S. Representative^[6]
• David J. Archuleta

Results

County results

Democratic Primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Larry LaRocco	29,023	72.35%
	Democratic	David J. Archuleta	11,074	27.60%
	Democratic	Write-ins	20	0.05%
Total votes			40,117	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Larry LaRocco, former U.S. Congressman (Democratic)
• Kent A. Marmon, former member of the Caldwell City Council (Libertarian)
• Pro-life (Independent)
• Rex Rammell, veterinarian, elk rancher, and Republican candidate for State House in 2002 and 2004 (Independent)
• Jim Risch, Lieutenant Governor and former Governor (Republican)

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[7]	Safe R	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics[8]	Safe R	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report[9]	Safe R	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics[10]	Safe R	November 4, 2008

Polling

Poll Source	Dates administered	Larry LaRocco (D)	Jim Risch (R)	Rex Rammel (I)
Survey USA[11]	September 6–8, 2007	36%	52%	-
Myers Research[12]	November 13–19, 2007	34%	48%	-
Robinson Research[13]	November 26 – December 12, 2007	27%	46%	-
Celinda Lake[14]	May 20–25, 2008	28%	43%	6%
Research 2000[15]	July 28–30, 2008	32%	42%	5%
Greg Smith[16]	August 18–22, 2008	30%	41%	3%
Rasmussen Reports[17]	September 9, 2008	30%	58%	-

Results

General election results^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Risch	371,744	57.65%	−7.51%
	Democratic	Larry LaRocco	219,903	34.11%	+1.56%
	Independent	Rex Rammell	34,510	5.35%
	Libertarian	Kent Marmon	9,958	1.54%	−0.75%
	Independent	Pro-Life	8,662	1.35%
	Write-in		3	0.00%
Majority			151,841	23.55%	−9.06%
Turnout			644,780
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Latah (largest municipality: Moscow)
• Shoshone (largest municipality: Kellogg)
• Teton (largest municipality: Victor)

See also

• 2008 United States Senate elections