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Name change latest quirk in race for Senate

By Valerie Richardson (Contact) | Tuesday, September 30, 2008

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Other politicians may say they're pro-life, but Marvin Richardson is Pro-Life. The 67-year-old candidate, running as an independent for a U.S. Senate seat from Idaho, legally changed his name earlier this year to Pro-Life. That's how it will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, along with a brief aside identifying him as a person, not a position.

Don't accuse Pro-Life of spending too much energy on one topic, though.

"I'm far from a single-issue candidate," Pro-Life said in a phone interview, pointing out that he also opposes the war in Iraq and nuclear power.

His candidacy is just one of several quirky subplots in this year's Idaho Senate race, possibly the most interesting campaign in the nation in which the outcome isn't much in question.

The Republican, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, holds a 20-point-plus lead over his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Larry LaRocco, 62, according to two polls released this month.

It's hardly a surprise to find a Republican ahead in Idaho, perennial contender for the title of reddest state, until you consider that the candidates are running for the seat vacated by Republican Sen. Larry Craig.

Republicans initially feared that Mr. Craig's arrest last year in a sex sting at the Minneapolis airport would hurt their chances of holding the seat. So far, however, the episode hasn't materialized as a campaign issue, said Risch campaign manager Ryan White.

"People are keeping that issue completely separate in their minds," Mr. White said. "People seem to think of it as a personal problem, a situation involving one person, as opposed to a party problem."

Mr. Risch, 65, also has had to contend with the candidacy of another independent, Rex Rammell, whose interest in defeating the Republican goes beyond politics.

During his seven-month tenure as governor in 2006, Mr. Risch ordered the shooting of more than 100 privately owned elk that had escaped their ranch and begun mixing with the state's herds of wild elk.