It’s probably the biggest waiting game in Idaho politics these days.
Will U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador join the crowded gubernatorial race?
Labrador hasn’t said which way he’s leaning. And in an interview with Bill Spence of the Lewiston Tribune Friday, he remained cagey.
“The political insiders are thinking about it, but normal people aren’t,” Labrador told Spence. “They’re not paying attention to a race that takes place next year.”
Labrador told Spence that he was waiting on the end of President Trump’s first 100 days in office before turning to his own political future. Labrador supported Trump during the 2016 campaign, and he told Spence the new administration has corrected course after a couple of early “missteps.” However, Trump has publicly called out Labrador and other House conservatives for withholding their support for a GOP bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
While Labrador wouldn’t say which way he is leaning, he told Spence that an announcement would come “sooner rather than later.”
If Labrador jumps into the gubernatorial race, he will join an already crowded Republican primary. Boise developer and doctor Tommy Ahlquist, former state Sen. Russ Fulcher and Lt. Gov. Brad Little are already in the fray.
