Live Results: Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Crapo is reelected for Idaho US senate against Democrat challenger David Roth

idaho senate race
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo; David Roth's campaign; Insider
  • Republican Sen. Mike Crapo won the Idaho US Senate race against Democrat David Roth.

  • Crapo far outraised and outspent Roth in his successful efforts for reelection.

Polls are closed in Idaho and Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Crapo won the race against Democrat David Roth in Idaho to represent the state in the US Senate.

 

Idaho's Senate race candidates

First elected in 1998, Crapo has served in Congress for nearly a quarter of a century. He serves as a ranking member on the Senate Committee on Finance and as the chief deputy whip among Senate Republicans.

Crapo's priorities include addressing the challenges that face Idaho's multi-billion dollar agriculture industry, reforming and modernizing the financial sector, and pursuing alternative energy sources.

Prior to entering Congress, the native Idahoan served for nearly a decade in the Idaho State Senate and for three terms in the US House. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Crapo also worked as a partner in the law firm of Holden, Kidwell, Hahn & Crapo, and is a member of the Idaho and California Bar Associations and the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Roth, Crapo's challenger, serves as the executive director of the Bonneville Youth Development Council in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Prior to that, he served as a precinct captain, legislative district vice chair, and most recently as the chair of the Bonneville County Democrats. Roth unsuccessfully ran for the Idaho State Legislature in 2020.

He is also an openly gay man, as noted in his Twitter bio. Roth says he is "running in 'red' Idaho because NO state is a lost cause." If elected, Roth would become the first openly gay man to serve in the US Senate.

Roth defeated Ben Pursley in the Democratic primary, receiving nearly 60% of the vote.

Idaho's voting history

The state voted for then-President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a margin of about 30 percentage points in the 2020 election. Idaho, a longtime Republican stronghold, has voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election cycle since 1952, having voted Democratic just once — Lyndon B. Johnson over Barry Goldwater — in 1964.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Crapo raised $7.1 million, spent $6.7 million, and had $3.3 million cash on hand, as of October 19.

As Insider reported in 2021, Crapo is a highly successful fundraiser who once provided prospective donors with a detailed list of pay-to-play deliverables at three price points.

His challenger, Roth, raised $88,533, spent $70,660, and had $17,872 cash on hand, as of October 19.

What experts say

The race between Crapo and Roth was rated as "solid Republican" by Inside Elections, "solid Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "safe Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider