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Immigration top issue for Idaho Republican
By Christopher Smith, AP
May 23, 2006

BOISE, Idaho --Voters in Idaho head to the polls Tuesday for a primary that includes a congressional bid by a commissioner who once sought to have his county declared a disaster area because of an influx of illegal immigrants.

In the nation's only other primary, former Clinton administration official Bill Halter faces three Democratic opponents in the Arkansas lieutenant governor's race.

In Idaho, Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez, who is the grandson of Mexican immigrants, also tried to bill the Mexican government $2 million for public services to immigrants and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit accusing employers of conspiring to hire illegal workers.

Vasquez, whose county is southwest of Boise, is vying with five other candidates to be the Republican candidate in November for the seat being vacated by Rep. Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter, who declined to seek re-election to run for governor.

The winner is expected to face former business executive Larry Grant, who is running for the Democratic nomination against Cecil Kelly, a small business owner in the resort community of Coeur d'Alene.

Vasquez has vowed to stop the "invasion" of illegal immigrants in the United States, and his campaign has gained momentum during national debate over the issue.

Idaho, one of the most solidly Republican states in the country, has elected a Democrat to that district only twice since 1967.

Otter is heavily favored in the three-way GOP primary for governor.

On the Democratic ballot, newspaper owner Jerry Brady is making his second bid for governor in a two-way primary. He got 42 percent of the vote in the 2002 general election against former Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who awaits confirmation as U.S. interior secretary.

Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, a Republican, is Idaho's acting governor but is not running for the state's top office.

In Arkansas, where the major-party nominations for governor are already set, attention turned to the primary for lieutenant governor.

Halter, who was deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration under President Clinton, enjoyed a wide lead in fundraising. He secured a ballot spot last week when the state Supreme Court ruled he met a seven-year eligibility requirement despite working outside the state for much of the last 20 years.

In the Republican primary, state Sen. Jim Holt faces two opponents. Holt has greater name recognition than his opponents, in part because of a run for U.S. Senate two years ago in which he won 44 percent of the vote.

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Associated Press writer Kelly Kissel contributed to this story from Little Rock, Ark.