Minnick holds fundraising advantage over Rep. Sali

WASHINGTON - Democrats wrote off Idaho's open congressional seat two years ago, figuring that even in a year where they had the momentum to regain control of the House of Representatives, no amount of money could turn a red state blue.

But 2008 is different. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, flush with cash, will be spending $349,000 on television advertising in Idaho, attacking GOP Rep. Bill Sali of Kuna, a freshman who has had trouble raising money for his re-election.

His Democratic opponent, businessman Walt Minnick of Boise, has seized the fundraising advantage, lending his campaign $160,000, raising $998,000 and going into the summer campaign months with $444,000 in cash plus the promise of the DCCC commercials.

It's a big change from 2006, when Sali's candidacy drew more than $1 million in assistance from the Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax advocacy group that helps elect first-time Republican candidates. Sali still hasn't released his most recent fundraising numbers - now more than a week overdue - but his campaign says he has about $250,000 cash on hand.

Democrats say that this time, they have more cash to spread around, which makes it easier for them to take a risk on Minnick in the Idaho race. The DCCC has $54.6 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee's $8.5 million.

Republicans haven't decided yet how they'll spend that cash, said Julie Shutley, an NRCC spokeswoman. They've been lending Sali a hand, though.

"I still think this race is really out of reach for the Democrats," Shutley said. "They're going to have to spend a lot of money to make up for the fact that Walt Minnick is out of step with the district."

Not so, said Minnick spokesman John Foster. The DCCC help is an outright acknowledgment that they're running a good campaign with the potential to turn a GOP seat over to the Democrats, Foster said.

Sali's voting record has given them plenty of ammunition, said DCCC spokesman Yoni Cohen. "Congressman Sali's record is absolutely part of the reason he's vulnerable," he said.

As much as staffers appreciate the DCCC support, Minnick's campaign appears to realize that accepting inside-the-Beltway help from the national Democratic Party has the potential to be used against him as the campaign season progresses.

"It's good to know they're doing this," Foster said, but he emphasized that Minnick has asserted his independence. "Walt has made it abundantly clear that he's going to do what's right for Idaho, not what some political party wants him to do."

So does Sali feel under siege, with the knowledge that this time, instead of being the beneficiary of out-of-state help, he's the target?

"Why would he feel that way?" asked his campaign spokesman, Wayne Hoffman, who also serves as the spokesman for his congressional office. "Idahoans decide elections based on issues. Bill Sali said he's going to Congress to do certain things, and he's done those things."

But he has had trouble raising money, so much so that his fellow Republicans this winter named Sali as one of the 10 most threatened GOP congressmen in the country. Much of the money came from fellow Republican House members, including $9,000 from the political action committee and re-election accounts of House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. A fellow Idaho Republican, Rep. Mike Simpson, also kicked in $4,000.

Sali had more than $134,000 in debt remaining from his 2006 campaign, although he told the Statesman last week that he has paid off some of that.

But it remains impossible to officially compare Sali's fundraising numbers with Minnick's or determine how much debt he still carries because his most recent FEC report is overdue.

The matter will be reviewed administratively by the FEC to determine whether Sali's campaign is subject to a fine. Sali's campaign blames a computer glitch, but only one other member of Congress, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, has failed to file a report this quarter.

"It's not common, but it does happen," said FEC spokesman Bob Biersack.

Hoffman criticized the press inquiries into Sali's FEC reports, saying that reporters have overemphasized their importance.

"Idahoans are concerned about something different, and that's issues," Hoffman said, citing energy top among them.

Still, Hoffman drew attention to some of Minnick's contributors this past quarter, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America - formerly known as the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League - which donated $2,500 to Minnick last quarter. Minnick is drawing support from "a bunch of liberals" who also back Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Hoffman said.

Minnick's spokesman, Foster, countered that "the majority of individuals who are giving money to this campaign are from Idaho."

Erika Bolstad: (202) 383-6104