“Walt Minnick might be saying no, but that has done nothing to stop the Obama Pelosi agenda which is destroying our nation,” Labrador said in a message posted on his website.  “I want to go to Washington, DC to say YES to a positive conservative agenda.  I want to say YES to rebuilding our economy, I want to say YES to creating jobs.”

Labrador, a state representative from Eagle, doesn’t directly refute any part of Minnick’s ad as incorrect.  He said many parts of the Democratic majority in the U.S. House passed despite Minnick’s opposition, and again condemned Minnick’s vote for Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as Speaker of the House.

Labrador also questioned Minnick’s opposition to Wall Street bailouts when he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs.

Minnick held a 16-1 fundraising lead in cash-on-hand over Minnick at the end of June.  He also served on the House Financial Services Committee, which handles banking regulation issues.

Minnick’s ad made no mention of Labrador or the other challengers in the race, Libertarian Mike Washburn and independent candidate Dave Olson.  Minnick also doesn’t mention his affiliation with the Democratic Party.

Minnick discussed his no votes on congressional spending programs and the health care plan approved by the majority of Democrats in Congress.  His campaign also released a radio ad that mentions  his work for military veterans in Idaho.

Minnick also says he said no to bailouts of Wall Street.  Minnick wasn’t in Congress when the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) passed in Congress.  On his official website, Minnick said he opposed TARP as well as bailouts for American car companies and the insurance company AIG.

Otter’s TV ad talks about the belt tightening at the Legislature this year, where Otter and lawmakers agreed on a lower budget due to projected drops in tax revenues. Allred has been critical of the revenue targets used by the Legislature.

Otter also referenced a study showing that Idaho led the country in state government job cuts from 2001 to 2009. However, Otter doesn’t talk about the study’s finding that the number of local government jobs rose more than most states during that time span.

In his TV ad, Allred talks about his work leading the non-partisan advocacy group The Common Interest.  The group helped lawmakers pass a plan to lower property taxes for homeowners in 2006 and opposed increasing gas taxes and vehicle fees in 2009.

Allred’s role in the property tax plan, as well as his proposal to  lower the gas tax and his assertion that he’s a fifth generation Idahoan have been challenged by Otter and other Republicans.

Allred has trailed Otter in polls of the governor’s race while Minnick has led his Republican opponent, state Rep. Raul Labrador of Eagle.  Allred and Minnick led their opponents in campaign cash on hand as of the last reporting period, which for both candidates was in June.

Labrador ran some radio advertisements during his primary race, but has yet to announce any ads for the general election campaign season, which ends in less than two months on Nov. 2.

A telephone poll by Rasmussen Reports on Aug. 31 showed Otter holding a 52 percent to 36 percent lead over Allred.  That’s only a 1 percent difference from a Rasmussen poll in July, which had Otter with a 53 percent to 36 percent advantage.

The small change is well within the 4.5 percent margin of error.

“Gov. Otter has a sizable lead according to this poll,” said Ryan Panitz, a spokesman for Otter’s campaign.  He acknowledged that the poll is only a snapshot in time, and that the final results of the Nov. 2 election are what count.  “It shows once again that Idahoans want the conservative values and Gov. Otter’s conservative approach to balancing the budget.”

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” said Allred’s spokesman, Shea Andersen.  “I look forward to the fall, when the people of Idaho start paying closer attention to the race.”

In the latest poll, 7 percent of respondents favored “some other candidate.”

Slightly more than half of the poll respondents, 52 percent, approve of Otter’s job as governor, while 41 percent disapprove.

Sen. Jim Risch said at the Boise event that many seats, including the governor’s job, are key this election.  “Every one of these races is important, but we all know (the Democrats) want the head spot in this state, because that will really help their party,” Risch said.  He also said that Americans across the country have had buyers’ remorse over the 2008 election, when Democrats won control of the White House and Congress.

Little said the Republican Party advocates for the lightest possible hand of government.  “We’ve got a lot of work to do to make sure that the leadership that Idaho’s offered as the reddest state continues,” he said.

The state Republican Party also held a conference call on Friday with more than 100 candidates on the line, in another display of party unity.  “This is going to be a banner year for the GOP,” Gov. Butch Otter said in a news release.

As of June 4, Little held a large fundraising lead over his Democratic opponent Eldon Wallace, a retired Missouri state government employee who has assisted Democratic state lawmakers.  Little had more than $82,000 in cash on hand  while Wallace had just under $300, according to reports published by the Idaho secretary of state.  Constitution Party candidate Paul Venable reported $35 in cash on hand as of May 9.

No polls have been released for the lieutenant governor’s race.  It is the lowest paying state office, with a salary of $30,400 this year.  The job’s main responsibilities are presiding over the Idaho Senate and filling in as the head of state if the governor is incapacitated or out of the state.

Otter appointed Little to his current post in 2009, after Risch was elected to the U.S. Senate.  Little joined the Idaho Senate also by a gubernatorial appointment, from Gov. Dirk Kempthorne in 2001.  He won election to the Senate four times.  He also chaired the business group Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry.

Little’s campaign has already contributed small amounts to several county Republican organizations, categorized as purchasing tickets for events, political advertising, or candidate contributions.  If he maintains a large fundraising lead and perceives an easy victory, he could dole out thousands in his campaign war chest.

Other prominent Idaho Republicans, including Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, congressional candidate and Eagle state Rep. Raul Labrador, and former Sen. Larry Craig were at the fundraiser for Little.  Several hundred people paid the $20 ticket price to attend the event, which also had a silent auction that likely brought in more than $1,000 for the campaign.

“He was involved on a very minimal basis,” House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, said in a news release. “There is absolutely no way he can carry the banner on this one and take credit.”

In 2006, state lawmakers approved a plan that increased the homeowner’s exemption on property tax bills from $50,000 to $75,000.  Allred led the non-partisan group The Common Interest at that time.  The group backed the idea and Allred lobbied in both House and Senate committees on property tax issues.  He’s taken credit for the plan in his campaign, which some Republicans reject.

“Keith taking credit for passing the homeowner’s exemption in 2006 is like Al Gore taking credit for inventing the Internet,” said Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot.  “It’s just nonsense.”  Republicans say the legislation came from an interim committee that examined the property tax issue, not The Common Interest.

Two Republicans serving in the Senate committee that handled the plan in 2006 say Allred helped tack an amendment onto the plan that improved it.

“He as an integral part in coming up with that idea,” said former Republican Sen. Hal Bunderson of Meridian, who has endorsed Allred’s run for governor.

The amendment altered how the exemption would increase over time.  The original plan approved by the Idaho House tied it to the national consumer price index, one measure of inflation.  The amendment in the Senate changed that to the Idaho housing price index, which more closely tracks changes in home values.  That amendment eventually passed the Senate and House.

“To say that he was not instrumental in that is an error,” said Bunderson, who led the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee at the time.

Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, confirmed that Allred worked with Bunderson on that amendment.  “To my knowledge, that was the involvement,” Hill told IdahoReporter.com.  “He came to the committee and convinced them that it would be a better measure.”

House Republicans at the time, including Lake and Debbie Field, who now manages Otter’s re-election campaign, say Allred wasn’t involved on the House’s work on the property tax change.  “The Governor’s opponent is taking credit for passing a bill that he had nothing to do with,” Field said in a news release.

Labrador led a nationwide conference call with small business owners hosted by the Republican National Committee, while Minnick spoke to the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce as part of an event backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Labrador said that he talked with hundreds of small business owners on the conference call about problems with the current federal government controlled by Democrats.  “We all agreed that less government red tape and reducing the burden of taxes on businesses is one of the keys to economic recovery,” he said in a news release.  “We spoke a lot about how the Obama/Pelosi agenda has hurt their businesses and what a GOP led Congress would do to change that.”

Minnick’s event in Coeur d’Alene focused on proposed free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia that are currently stalled.  Minnick introduced a resolution urging the U.S. House to pass the trade pacts, and President Barack Obama has come out in support of the plans.

Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo spoke at a similar event in Boise Wednesday, and said that the free trade agreements are being held up by House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

“I stand with the individuals, families, farms and businesses affected by this unfair double tax and I commit to working for its repeal,” Labrador said in a prepared statement.  “I have a record of standing up for Idahoans on issues of taxation and I will carry that fight to Washington, D.C.  This is really bad timing for the Democrats, including my opponent, to make the Death Tax permanent when it severely and negatively affects so many lives and depresses the economy.”

The estate tax, often called the death tax by its opponents, taxes the assets of deceased people passed down to from one generation to the next.  The federal estate tax is repealed for 2010.  Unless Congress acts, the estate tax will return next year, taxing all estates worth more than $1 million at a 55 percent rate.

Labrador and other want to repeal it permanently.  The “Death Tax Repeal Pledge” is backed by more than 20 current members of Congress, including Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo, and more than 400 candidates for Congress this year, including Vaughn Ward, who Labrador defeated in the May 25 Republican primary.

“Labrador has been a strong advocate for permanently repealing this unfair double tax,” said AFBI President Dick Patten.  “He understands that the Death Tax penalizes family farmers and business owners when they die.  I’m encouraged that he has committed to taking a more active role in the repeal fight.”  The AFBI represents business owners with the sole mission of repealing the estate tax.

Labrador has criticized his opponent, Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick, for a vote in December on legislation that would bring back the estate tax, but increase the exemption to $3.5 million for individuals or $7 million for a couple or a family-owned business, such as a farm.  That legislation has yet to be approved by the Senate.

“Idaho farm families need a guarantee that they can plan for the future without an onerous increase to the estate tax,” Minnick said in December.  “Had we not passed this bill, the law would have required that the tax be increased and the exemption decreased.  In these tough times, that is just not acceptable.”

Minnick backed a failed effort that would have repealed the estate tax for another two years.

Minnick’s campaign spokesman, John Foster, said new proposals to change or repeal the estate tax could come out of President’s Barack Obama’s deficit reduction commission, which will release its recommendations in December.  Crapo serves on that commission.

“I know that Walt’s really looking forward to their findings,” Foster said.

“He consistently reflects the values of his constituents and has shown the courage to vote accordingly,” said IMA CEO Susie Pouliot in a news release.

“I know this has been a tumultuous year for Idaho physicians,” Minnick said.  ”But they have my ongoing commitment to work with them and others in a collaborative, bipartisan fashion to help find solutions to problems such as Medicare reimbursement and a lack of rural providers.”

The IMA has more than 2,600 members in Idaho, and also runs the Idaho Medical Political Action Committee (IMPAC) which contributes to both Republican and Democratic candidates for office.

IMPAC has already spent $24,870 in this year’s election, with that money going to the state legislative candidates as well as the national American Medical Political Action Committee (AMPAC).  That’s more than the $23,775 during the 2008 election.  IMPAC has contributed to candidates from both parties and tends to give to incumbent candidates rather than challengers, according to reports with the Idaho secretary of state.

AMPAC, the national doctors’ group, is also endorsing Minnick.  The Center for Responsive Politics lists the American Medical Association as one of the top 20 “heavy hitters,” which are special interest groups and corporations that make large donations on federal level politics.  The doctor’s group has historically tilted toward Republicans, but has begun to shift support to Democrats during the past few years, according to the center’s website, OpenSecrets.org.

Minnick is running against Republican Raul Labrador, Libertarian Mike Washburn, and independent candidate Dave Olson for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District

“He really only voted against it so that he could get re-elected,” Labrador, a state representative from Eagle, said during a call-in show on KBOI Thursday.  Labrador said if he beats Minnick, he will work to undo the health care law.  “I will do everything I can to repeal that legislation,” he said.  “It’s going to be easier next year.  The reality is that under (President Barack) Obama it’s going to be difficult to repeal health care.”

Minnick, who appeared on KBOI on Wednesday, isn’t signing on to a discharge petition on legislation that would repeal the health care law, but is working on several plans that would get rid of parts of the law.

Labrador tried to staked out differences between himself and Minnick on several other topics.  He criticized Minnick’s vote on legislation reinstating the estate tax for people with more than $3.5 million.  Labrador, who referred to it as the death tax, said people shouldn’t be taxed twice.

Minnick explained his reason for his vote on the legislation on his official House website in December, saying that he worked on changing the estate tax, and ultimately voted for it to avoid more families being  forced to pay it.

Labrador also pointed out the opposing positions between him and Minnick on abortion.  “I have been a strong defender of life, and I think it’s unfortunate that we have a congressman in Idaho that has a 100 percent ranking with the pro-abortion lobby,” Labrador said, referring to Minnick’s ranking from the pro-abortion group NARAL.

During the show, Labrador also called himself a political maverick, using the label of former presidential candidate John McCain.  He also said that he would be use a consistent, conservative philosophy in Washington, D.C.

Labrador also touched on his trailing Minnick in the fundraising race.  He said that it can be difficult to raise money since he is not the incumbent or the preferred candidate of some special interests, and asked a caller looking to help his campaign to make a contribution.  Minnick held a 16 to 1 advantage in cash on hand at the end of June.

Labrador said that if he’s elected, he’d like to serve on House committees dealing with immigration and natural resources.  Minnick serves on the financial services and agriculture committees.

Both Labrador and Minnick have called illegal immigration a problem that Congress needs to solve.  Labrador reiterated his stance that the government should enforce the laws already on the books and secure its borders.  He also said he’s against amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but favors a guest worker program.

Minnick has also come out in favor of more secure borders and a guest worker program, and against amnesty.

Labrador also said he’s against changing the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, as some GOP leaders have suggested.  “I don’t think we should be tinkering with the 14^th Amendment,” he said.  “What we should be doing is tinkering with our welfare laws.”  Labrador said.

Labrador also accused Minnick of not always providing straight answers on policy questions.  “There’s a bobbing and a weaving,” he said.  “It’s really difficult to get a direct answer from him.”

Audio of both call-in shows with Labrador and Minnick is available on KBOI’s website.

Idaho Republican Party chairman Norm Semanko said a recent meeting between one of Minnick’s staff members and several north Idaho members of MoveOn shows his true political colors.  “This is the real Walt Minnick, speaking to the right and voting with the left,” Semanko said in a prepared statement.  “I can assure you, he is a liberal Democrat.”

Minnick’s campaign spokesman, John Foster, rejected the connection between Minnick and MoveOn.  “One of the only groups to attack Walt as scurrilously and as often as MoveOn is Norm Semanko’s organization,” Foster told IdahoReporter.com.  He also said that Minnick and MoveOn haven’t seen eye to eye on many issues, including Minnick’s opposition to the 2009 stimulus package.

“This clearly demonstrates that he is not the conservative that he professes to be,” said Republican state Rep Raul Labrador of Eagle, Minnick’s opponent in the Nov. 2 election.

A Minnick staffer, Sarah Worley met with the MoveOn members to discuss the organizations efforts for campaign finance reform.  MoveOn is calling for a Constitutional Amendment overturning the Citizens United v. FEC U.S. Supreme Court case, which ended many limits on political speech and spending by corporations and unions.  The group also backs plans that would create public financing for U.S. House elections and would put more limits on lobbyists.

According to the Coeur d’Alene Press, Worley told the group, “I can say from Walt’s perspective, absolutely, he’s 100 percent committed to these three planks, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have any question against those at all.”

Foster said Minnick hasn’t signed MoveOn’s pledge, and called Worley an overenthusiastic staffer.

Foster also questioned Semanko’s attack on Minnick for meeting with the MoveOn members, who live in Minnick’s congressional district.  “(Minnick) has described his office many times as the customer service office of the U.S. government,” said Foster, who added that Minnick and his staff have met with groups spanning the political spectrum.

Semanko said the meeting highlights the differences between Minnick and Labrador.  “We need to elect a Republican like Raul Labrador to this seat; someone that will never meet with groups like MoveOn.org and will never vote with the Democrats,” Semanko said.

Minnick supports reforms to decrease the amount of money involved in campaigns, according to Foster.  Minnick opposed the Citizens United ruling but he voted against the DISCLOSE Act, which would require corporations to disclose the names of their top five donors in political ads.  Minnick also is a co-sponsor on legislation favored by MoveOn that would create publicly financed elections in the U.S. House.

Labrador’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on his stance on the Citizens United ruling or whether he would meet with constituents from organizations like MoveOn.