Mike Crapo

Michael Dean Crapo (born May 20, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Idaho, a seat he has held since 1999.

Crapo was born on May 20, 1951, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Melba (née Olsen) and George Crapo.

He became an Eagle Scout in 1966.

His brother Terry Crapo was majority leader in the Idaho House of Representatives from 1968 to 1972 and an influential political figure until his death from leukemia in 1982.

His brother served in Idaho House of Representatives for four years as majority leader (1968 to 1972) and was considered a rising star in Idaho politics.

Crapo earned a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from Brigham Young University in 1973 and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1977.

After graduating from law school, Crapo served for one year as a law clerk to Judge James M. Carter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He then returned to Idaho to practice as a lawyer, joining his brother Terry Crapo's law firm of Holden Kidwell Hahn & Crapo in Idaho Falls.

He practiced law in his home city throughout the 1980s, while also maintaining an active role in local Republican politics.

In the 1980s, he became active in the Republican Party's campaigns for seats in the state legislature.

After Terry's death from leukemia in 1982, Mike ran for an open seat in the Idaho Senate.

After his brother's death, Crapo was elected to the Idaho Senate in 1984.

He was elected to the State Senate in 1984, where he served until 1992.

He served as Senate president pro tempore from 1988 to 1992.

In 1988, Senate President pro tempore Jim Risch unexpectedly lost reelection to the Idaho Senate, and Crapo was elected by his colleagues to the president's position.

He served as senate president pro tempore from 1988 to 1992.

On January 27, 1989, Crapo served as acting governor of Idaho for 12 hours while Governor Cecil D. Andrus was out of the state testifying before Congress and Lieutenant Governor Butch Otter was out of the state on business for his employer, Simplot.

Andrus, a Democrat, left Crapo a note saying, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. ... P.S. The chair is comfortable, isn't it?"

Crapo was elected to an open seat in Congress in 1992, representing Idaho's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives.

Crapo was elected to Congress in 1992, representing Idaho's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.

A member of the Republican Party, Crapo served as the U.S. representative for Idaho's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 1999.

He is the dean of Idaho's congressional delegation, having served since 1993.

Born in Idaho Falls, Crapo is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School.

He served three terms from 1993 to 1999.

After three terms in the House, he ran for the open seat in the U.S. Senate in 1998 when Dirk Kempthorne vacated it to run for Idaho governor.

Crapo was elected with 70% of the vote, and became the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to represent Idaho in the Senate.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998.

Crapo was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998.

He succeeded fellow Republican Dirk Kempthorne, who retired after one term to run for governor.

In his Senate bid, as in his House campaigns, Crapo's campaign made signs that had a macron placed over the "a" in his name (Crāpo) to indicate its correct pronunciation ("Cray-poe").

On February 12, 1999, Crapo was one of 50 senators to vote to convict of impeachable offenses and to remove Bill Clinton from office.

In 2004, he defeated his only opponent, write-in Democratic candidate Scott McClure, with 99% of the vote.

Crapo was reelected in 2004 with 99.2% of the vote, with the other .8% going to a write-in candidate, Democrat Scott McClure.

He was reelected in 2010, 2016, and 2022.

In 2010, Crapo was reelected to a third term with 71% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee P. Tom Sullivan and Constitution Party nominee Randy Bergquist.

In the 111th Congress, Crapo served on the following Senate committees: Banking, Housing and Urban Development; Budget; Environment and Public Works; Indian Affairs; and Finance.

He co-chairs the Senate Nuclear Caucus, the Canada-U.S. Inter-parliamentary Group (IPG); the COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Caucus, which he founded; and the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus.

In 2016, Crapo was reelected to a fourth term with 66% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Jerry Sturgill and Constitution Party nominee Ray Writz.

In October 2016, after the Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording came to light, Crapo said he would not vote for Trump.

He later reversed that decision.