Boise-area developers are already giving money to Idaho candidates. Who’s giving to whom?
Primary elections are still four months away, the general election nine, but donations for candidates have already started pouring in. Real estate developers are among those jumping into the political fray.
Developers often interact with various levels of government, from local boards that make decisions on development projects to state legislators and the governor, who influence the laws they must follow.
Candidates for everything from governor to local highway district commissioner have benefited from the latest wave of donations.
An Idaho Statesman review of two weeks of campaign contributions from Dec. 17 to Dec. 31 turned up at least $71,000 in contributions from at least 28 developers, builders, real estate agents and people related to these fields.
For example, Caleb Roope, the founder and CEO of The Pacific Cos., an Eagle company that has developed market-rate and affordable apartments throughout the West, donated $10,000 to Republican Gov. Brad Little, who is running for a second term. David Wali, executive vice president of Gardner Co. in Boise, a developer, donated $5,000 to Little.
Meanwhile, John Odom, the owner of HMH Construction in Nampa, donated $5,000 to Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, while his company donated $10,000. McGeachin is challenging Little in the May GOP primary.
Businesses tied to Doug Fowler, who is developing Harris Ranch in Boise’s Barber Valley, donated $3,000 to Ada County Highway District Commissioner Kent Goldthorpe. The ACHD Commission is nonpartisan, so Goldthorpe won’t face a partisan primary challenge in May. Donations of $1,000 each came from Barber Valley Development Inc., Barber Valley Irrigation Co. and Harris Family Limited Partnership.
The Idaho Associated General Contractors Political Action Committee collected $2,700 from 31 donations, and donated $1,000 to Scott Bedke, the Idaho House speaker from Oakley who is running for lieutenant governor; and $1,000 to Rep. Greg Chaney of Caldwell, a four-term Republican in the House who is seeking his first term in the state Senate.
Donations are ‘investment’ in officials
Boise State University Associate Professor Jaclyn Kettler, whose research focuses on campaign finance, said developers and real estate groups tend to be active in local elections.
“Local decisions could impact their industry,” Kettler said by phone. “It makes sense they’d get involved in local politics.”
As housing and growth become more pressing issues for voters, Kettler said more statewide policy could follow. She describes donations as “more of an investment.”
Because of contribution limits, Kettler said, it’s difficult for people to sway politicians with money. If two groups each give the maximum, politicians might then have to pick between them. While people may be concerned about corruption or outside influence, Kettle said research shows that elected officials aren’t necessarily persuaded by people who make political contributions, especially for members of the U.S. Congress. A quid pro quo type of bribery would be illegal.
“It’s not so much that you’re trying to change their mind,” Kettler said, “but you’re supporting a candidate that supports your (beliefs).”
Donors do, however, have an easier time getting a conversation or meeting with a politician if they donate, Kettler said.
Early donations could help get campaigns off the ground, Kettler said. Fowler and Roope said there wasn’t a specific reason why they donated in late December.
The contribution limits are tied to each election, rather than each year. The maximum allowed for a statewide office candidate is $5,000 per election. Roope donated $10,000 to Little: $5,000 for the primary and $5,000 for the general. (Little has yet to announce his reelection bid.)
Developer backs ‘any candidate that cares about housing’
Fowler and Roope say they want to support candidates who have done a worthy job in office.
“We do it to support common-sense candidates,” Fowler said by phone.
Though Fowler said he hasn’t been involved with any project that’s gone before the Ada County Highway District in recent years, he described Goldthorpe as having done “a fine job.” Goldthorpe was elected in 2014, reelected in 2018 and is up for reelection again this year.
In 2020, the Barber Valley Irrigation Co. donated $1,000 to Ada County Highway District Commissioner candidate Dave McKinney, who won his race to represent North Meridian, and $1,000 to Ada County Commissioner candidate Teri Murrison, who lost the 2020 Republican primary to Rod Beck.
Roope calls himself a conservative Republican and describes housing as a bipartisan issue, because having a home is “fundamental to really everybody.”
Roope said he donated to Little because the governor supports addressing housing issues. There’s been growing interest among legislators for the state to assist with affordable housing projects.
“I am very much supportive of any politician that cares about housing and is actually willing to do something, whether it’s policy or funding or anything,” Roope said by phone. “Especially funding on the affordable housing side. It’s a significant and critical need for businesses to have employees that have affordable places to live relatively near their work.”
In 2020, Roope donated $1,000 to the Ada County Republican Central Committee.
At the federal level, Roope has donated to each of Idaho’s four congressional delegation members: Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher, all Republicans. He donated to Republican Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah, and former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of Georgia, among others.
Some donors back office-seekers in both parties
Donors sometimes take a bipartisan approach to their contributions.
Roope donated $5,600, split between two political action committees, to support Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy.
Wali, the Little donor whose Gardner Co. built several downtown Boise buildings, hired former Boise mayor David Bieter, a Democrat, after Bieter lost his reelection bid in 2019. Wali had previously donated to Bieter.
Wali also donated $1,000 to Greg Macmillan, a Boise City Council candidate who lost his race in November to incumbent Lisa Sanchez in a nonpartisan race; $1,000 to ACHD candidate Alexis Pickering in 2020 in another nonpartisan race; and $500 to Ada County Commission candidate Diana Lachiondo, a Democrat who lost to Republican Ryan Davidson in 2020.
Idaho Statesman reporter Kevin Fixler contributed.
