Democratic Senate candidate Larry LaRocco raised a little more than $100,000 in the third quarter to finish September with approximately $100,000 on hand.

LaRocco, a former Congressman, touts the fact that he remains the only announced Senate candidate for the seat that is being vacated by Sen. Larry Craig (R), whose career suffered a serious blow in late August after it was discovered he was arrested in an airport bathroom sex sting.

Although Craig has wavered on his late summer pledge to resign his seat by Sept. 30, he is holding firm to his commitment to not seek re-election in 2008. That means Lt. Gov. Jim Risch (R), who announced he would run for Senate if Craig retired, is likely to launch a bid at some point.

Risch beat LaRocco by 20 points in last year’s contest for lieutenant governor, and Idaho’s strong Republican bent looks to protect whomever the GOP Senate nominee is from any fallout from the Craig affair — at least at this point.

— David M. Drucker