Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jim Risch (R-ID) have more in common than a love for their home state. The Idahoan Senators, who have been friends since serving in the state legislature together, both love trapshooting, flyfishing, and even sharing donors.  The longtime friends will be hosting fundraisers in Sun valley and Picabo on August 18th complete with shuttles and coordinated schedules.

Crapo’s “Hook ‘N Bullet” event kicks off at 5:30pm (pricetag: $2,500) with a reception in Ketchum where donors can sign up for horseback riding and fly fishing. Once guests have finished their orientation the party will move to the Dollar Mountain Lodge where they can partake in Risch’s second annual “Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed and Steak BBQ” (pricetag: $250-$1000).

Shuttles will be leaving Ketchum throughout the next day to whisk guests off for fly fishing on the Big Wood River, horseback riding and trap shooting at Silver Springs Ranch, and finally, the Hook ‘n Bullet Western Barbeque at 7:00pm.

Crapo showed his support for Risch for his 2008 race in the old fashioned way, by contributing the maximum of $10,000 via his leadership PAC, the Freedom Fund.

The two senators also shared several big-name corporate PAC and individual donors.  However, of the roughly 2,250 individual contributions to Risch, Crapo and Crapo’s leadership PAC in 2008, there were only a handful of out-of-state individuals who made multiple contributions of at least $1,000 to both Risch and Crapo.

Of note, former Shelby aide Lendell Porterfield–who represents the likes of Kynikos, Prudential and the American Bankers Association (Crapo happens to sit on the Finance and Banking Committees) and former Crapo chief of staff William Hollier. According to CRP data Porterfield contributed $10,600 to Risch, Crapo and Crapo’s PAC in 2008 alone.

Hollier, who has lobbied extensively on behalf of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde (disclosure reports ranging from 2005 to 2009 are available here), contributed at least $4,000 to the two Idahoans in 2008 as well.  The CTGR, who spent roughly $590,000 on lobbying from 2006-2009, have been trying to build a racetrack somewhere in the northwest dating as far back as 2004 (Crapo also happens to sit on the Indian Affairs Committee).

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