Palin-Backed Candidate Loses Idaho Primary

As state lawmaker Raul Labrador won the Republican nomination in a bitter fight to reclaim Idaho's 1st Congressional District, he reflected on the moments when he thought about dropping out of the race.

Labrador, a two-term lawmaker from Eagle, was up against an Iraq veteran with a significant fundraising advantage and backing from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

But as Labrador accepted his party's endorsement at around midnight Tuesday in a surprise primary upset over Marine reservist Vaughn Ward, even he acknowledged the hard part had just begun.

His victory sets up a battle in November with first-term Democrat Walt Minnick, who has spent the last few months padding his campaign account.

"We disagree on a host of issues, we have very different philosophies," Labrador said. "But I am committed to having a vigorous debate and running an honorable campaign focused on what is best for America and what is best for Idaho."

Labrador launched his bid for the 1st Congressional District just six months ago and emerges from a nomination contest that became an unusually tangled battle, dividing local and national tea party activists and raising questions of plagiarism on the campaign trail.

With 435 of 462 precincts reporting, Labrador collected 48.1 percent of the vote compared to 38.8 percent for Ward, who described the race as "a humbling experience ... and something I will never forget."

"I called Raul Labrador and congratulated him on his victory and will support him in his effort to reclaim this seat for the GOP in November," Ward told The Associated Press.

Ward was an early front-runner in the primary and built a six-to-one fundraising edge, bringing Palin to Idaho on Friday to raise money for his campaign and give a jolt to undecided voters in the 19 western counties that make up only one of two congressional districts in the state.

But her endorsement appeared to have little effect on the conservative western Idaho voters who typically predominate in Idaho primaries.

And Ward, a decorated Iraq veteran who was designated as one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's 23 recruits in its "Young Guns" candidate development program, kept shooting himself in the foot.

He was accused of using position statements on his website that were identical to those posted on websites of Republican candidates in other states. Ward pulled the statements, but the flub led to the resignation of his campaign manager less than two weeks before the election.

He came under fire again last weekend for allegedly using statements in his campaign kickoff announcement in January that were similar to passages in the keynote address Barack Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

"He was the front runner, here we are, his empire starts crumbling. It's kind of embarrassing," said state Sen. Monte Pearce, a New Plymouth Republican and one of his chamber's most conservative members.

"I saw people at the store, people in the polls, everybody just shaking their heads," Pearce said.

Labrador's win conjured comparisons to Idaho's past political upsets, such as Phil Batt's run for governor in the early 1990s. Batt came from behind to overrun long-favored Democratic Attorney General Larry EchoHawk and become the first Republican to hold the office since Don Samuelson was ousted by a Democratic state senator named Cecil Andrus in 1970.

The key difference?

"EchoHawk was running against Phil Batt, who was a seasoned, great campaigner," said Jasper LiCalzi, professor of political economy at the College of Idaho. "(Labrador) fired his campaign manager, he's raised no money ... Ward's falling down and he just stepped out the way."

Labrador now faces another difficult challenge against Minnick, who has more than $1 million cash on hand heading into the general election season. Minnick, who became the first Democrat to win the seat since 1994, also has shown a willingness to divert from his party, voting against federal bailouts and Obama's health care overhaul.

"Those votes reinforce that he's been true to his word when he ran two years ago," Minnick campaign manager John Foster said. "They like him here because he's fiscally accountable and conservative."