Fresh off of his losing bid for lieutenant governor, former Rep. Larry LaRocco (D) announced he’ll seek the Democratic nomination for Senate and the right to challenge Sen. Larry Craig (R).

LaRocco lost his bid for Idaho’s No. 2 executive post to incumbent Lt. Gov. Jim Risch (R) by 19 points. Risch actually was serving as governor at the time of the election because former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) had vacated the office to join President Bush’s Cabinet.

Craig won re-election in 2002 with 65 percent of the vote, beating his Democratic opponent by 33 points. And because Idaho remains overwhelmingly Republican, LaRocco could face an uphill climb against Craig — although the Senator has not declared whether he intends to run again next year.

— David M. Drucker