Six years after his last election, supporters of Interior Secretary and former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne are ready to pay off the last $15,000 of his campaign debt.

Kempthorne’s gubernatorial campaign committee will hold a “debt retirement reception” in Idaho next week to pay off obligations from his 2002 campaign.

A fundraising consultant who has been raising money to pay off the remaining debt says paying off Kempthorne’s debt became a challenge after the then-governor was nominated by President Bush to serve as secretary of the Interior. Kempthorne had just more than $250,000 in debt remaining after his 2002 campaign. Ninety percent of that money was paid off while he was still Idaho governor. But after Kempthorne’s nomination to the Cabinet, the campaign had to stop raising money to pay off the remaining debt to comply with the stricter federal rules that administration appointees must follow.

As governor, Kempthorne came under fire for his use of campaign money, before Idaho lawmakers closed a legal loophole that allowed officeholders to use campaign money to cover what were deemed “ordinary and necessary” expenses of running an office. Until the loophole was closed, Kempthorne used his campaign funds on more than $70,000 in meals, gifts and sundries - including expenses related to his time as head of the National Governors Association.

(Idaho Statesman)