Gov. Butch Otter hasn’t formally announced his bid for a third term.
But his fundraising efforts aren’t on hold.
The Otter for Idaho campaign says it collected $685,845 in the last six months of 2013 — bringing his fundraising total to $901,214 for 2013. This leaves Otter with $708,065 on hand for an expected re-election bid.
Otter’s largest donors were business supporters, according to John Miller of the Associated Press. That list includes lobbyists for the trucking industry, cigarette maker Altria, Wal-Mart, the J.R. Simplot Co. and Melaleuca of Idaho Falls, owned by prominent GOP backer Frank VanderSloot.
(For a closer look at the 142-page report, here’s a link to the Idaho Statesman.)
The Otter campaign filed its annual fundraising report Tuesday, 10 days ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline.
No word on other campaign fundraising efforts. State Sen. Russ Fulcher, the Meridian Republican challenging Otter in the May 20 GOP primary, has been pushing to ramp up fundraising in January. The results won’t be seen in the Jan. 31 reports, which cover fundraising through calendar year 2013.
Check back here for fundraising news as the reports start coming in.
