Who will be the 10th candidate in the Idaho GOP Primary for U.S. Senate? (Now there are 9!)

Please see the attached list that I have complied with links to each source.

Thanks,
Will Thomas
LaRocco for Senate

Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Idaho
1. Jim Risch:
http://www.newwest.net/city/article/risch_announces_for_senate_larocco_gives_campaign_update/C108/L108/
• Would he support Craig’s stance on immigration? He responded: “We have a guest worker
program in place right now. I would start with the old law and make changes to that.”
• “The number one job of the United States government is the protection of its people,” Risch said, before answering a few questions on foreign policy. He said he is amazed and upset by the Sunday morning news shows, where partisan politics about the Iraq war are featured.
“This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American issue. We are all Americans.”

2. Rex Rammell: http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=7772219
• Rammell, who has no prior experience in politics, says he has a lot to bring to the table. He
says he wants to bring back traditional republican beliefs; he wants to see less spending,
lower taxes, and wants to put a limit on government involvement in people's lives.
• http://rexrammell.com/

3. Scot Syme: http://www.idahostatesman.com/244/story/249104.html
• Scott Syme says he is tired of career politicians, and he's trying to prove that a regular
Idahoan can win high office.
• Kicking off his campaign Thursday in Weiser, the Iraq War veteran joined an increasingly
crowded field vying for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Larry Craig
says he will leave at the end of his term in January 2009.
• http://www.symeforsenate.com/

4. Harley D. Brown:
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2007/12/03/krichert/harley_brown_back_and_running_for_something
• During his 2001 Boise mayor's run, Statesman columnist Dan Popkey branded Brown "a
profane clown given to kookiness." This earned Popkey an expletive-laced voicemail from
the candidate himself. Ultimately, Brown garnered only 3 percent of the vote, finishing sixth
in the seven-way race.

5. Kent Marmon: http://www.idahostatesman.com/244/story/264897.html
• Kent Marmon questions Risch's credentials and says he is a 'conservative' and is 'more in
line' with Idahoans.
• Marmon questioned Risch's conservative credentials, pointing out that Risch's property tax
relief plan during his brief tenure as governor included raising the sales tax. He said he
doesn't have much money but believes he can defeat Risch using a grassroots strategy.
• Marmon said he is committed to rolling back expansion of the federal government and
giving states more power.
• Marmon said he ran as a Democrat in 1978 for a seat in the Idaho Legislature and narrowly
lost, but has been an active Republican since 1980.
• http://marmonforidaho.com/

6. Richard Phenneger: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=13073
• Post Falls businessman Richard Phenneger commissioned a poll that showed only 21
percent of Idahoans were satisfied with the two major-party frontrunners for the state’s open
U.S. Senate seat – Republican Jim Risch and Democrat Larry LaRocco – and now
Phenneger’s running too.
• Phenneger, a retired airline and military pilot who’s built a career developing employee
stock ownership plans for companies throughout the country, has filed to run as a
Republican, and he scheduled a formal announcement at a chili feed in Post Falls tonight.
• He said his history of negotiating between labor and management on highly complex
conversions to employee ownership – including for Rosauer’s and other area companies –
shows he’s a problem-solver.

7. Brian Hefner: http://www.idahopress.com/news/?id=3334
• On political issues, Hefner takes aim at illegal immigration, seeks to make English the
official language of the U.S., supports gun rights, wants to provide more support and
services for the military and veterans, and hopes to make America a “manufacturing giant
again.”
• http://www.brianhefner.com/index.html?_ret_=return

8. Fred Adams: http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A310270
• While he considers himself a solidly conservative Republican, he said he was disappointed
by the Idaho Republican Party's move to formally endorse Risch before the primary
elections.
• "It was as if they, not the voters, had already decided who was going to be our replacement
senator," Adams said in a prepared statement. "Our job as voters, it seemed, would simply
be to rubber-stamp Risch's selection."
• Adams also took shots at his other competitors, stating that Rammell is running simply to
"antagonize Risch."
• http://adamsforidaho.com/Index.html

9. Neal Thompson: (See Excerpt from Star-News article below)
• Thompson has been a deacon and sat on the board of his church 14 years, but he credits
solid grounding in Christian principles for the way he lives his life and valuing trust and truth.
• Thompson hopes to stop a trend he said has developed in the federal government to dictate
to states what they should do. He named the No Child Left Behind Act and wolf
reintroduction as examples of federal programs pushed upon Idaho without the consent of
its people.

(EXCERPT) Neal Thompson announces candidacy for U.S. Senate
Jan. 17, 2008
BY LUCIA V. KNUDSON
The Star-News

McCall-Donnelly School District Trustee Neal Thompson announced his intention
Monday night to run for the U.S. Senate.

Thompson, 55, is seeking the Idaho seat to be vacated by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho at the end of this year. He will enter the May Republican primary.

...

An electrician by trade, Thompson owns High Country Electric Inc., and has had the business 18 years.

Thompson said the outcry that followed new of Craig's arrest in a sex sting operation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport men's restroom was not the reason behind his bid.

...

Going from school board trustee to U.S. senator is not a big leap when it comes to doing the job itself, Thompson said.

The reason for his confidence is his belief in his abilities to lead and to teach which he developed while still young. In high school, Thompson was heavily into sports and captained teams. He also led his church youth group.

After high school, Thompson was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War. Instead of being sent to fight he was assigned to a missile unit at Fort Sill, Okla., as an instructor, a move he credits to officials spotting his teaching gifts.

...

Thompson has been a deacon and sat on the board of his church 14 years, but he credits solid grounding in Christian principles for the way he lives his life and valuing trust and truth.