The Republican race for governor could become more crowded.
Boise developer and doctor Tommy Ahlquist is “seriously considering” entering the field, Don Day of BoiseDev.com reported Thursday.
![Tommy-Ahlquist](https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tommy-Ahlquist.jpg)
“I’ve been asked for a long time to consider it by people I trust,” Ahlquist told Day. “It’s been going on for about a year and a half, people saying, ‘You’d be good at it and your skill set is unique.'”
Ahlquist’s development company has worked on two high-profile projects in downtown Boise: the 8th and Main project on a long-vacant downtown corner, and the US Bank Plaza project near the Boise Centre convention center.
Ahlquist had been a finalist for a State Board of Education appointment in 2014.
Two Republicans have already jumped into the race to succeed Gov. Butch Otter, who has publicly said he will not run for re-election in 2018. Lt. Gov. Brad Little announced his plans to run last summer. Soon after, former state Sen. Russell Fulcher announced he will take another run at governor; he challenged Otter in the 2014 GOP primary, receiving 44 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, according to one of the worst-kept secrets in Idaho political circles, U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador is a gubernatorial candidate in waiting. In December, the National Review said Labrador is already telling congressional colleagues that he will run for governor. Labrador is “actively considering” such a move, a spokesman told Nathan Brown of the Twin Falls Times-News at that time.