Idaho Lawyer Won't Challenge Rep. Minnick

[ccharles000]

Idaho lawyer Larry Grant (D) won't run against freshman Rep. Walt Minnick (D), even though he's received encouragement from some Democratic activists to challenge a congressman whose voting record makes him the most conservative Democrat in the House.

Grant, a former Micron Technology executive, was the Democratic nominee in Idaho's western 1st district in the 2006 election, losing by 5 percentage points to Republican Bill Sali. Minnick unseated Sali in the 2008 election by slightly more than one percentage point.

I called Grant on Friday after reading a blog item in the Idaho Statesman that said Grant "gets at least one call a week from Democrats urging him to challenge Minnick" and that also carried the provocative headline "Larry Grant a Republican for Congress?"

"Walt's walking a very fine line in this state. The Democratic base is not particularly large, but they're pretty active ... and a lot of those core people are not happy with his votes," Grant said. But, he said, "I will not run against Walt in a primary. I was instrumental in getting him elected last time, so no way."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/12/idaho-lawyer-wont-challenge-re.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=eye-on-2010