For Lt. Gov. Brad Little, the inevitable has become the quasi-official.
Little is expected to file paperwork Wednesday to set up a gubernatorial campaign committee. Bill Dentzer of the Idaho Statesman broke the story Wednesday.
The filing makes Little the first candidate to formally enter the 2018 governor’s race.
![Brad Little](https://www.idahoednews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Brad-Little.jpg)
Little’s move can hardly be classified as a stunner. Since 2009, when Gov. Butch Otter appointed the Emmett rancher and state senator to the vacant lieutenant governor’s post, Little has been viewed as a gubernatorial candidate in waiting.
The bigger question is who will join Little on the ballot — starting with the May 2018 Republican primary. The open race to succeed the retiring Otter will almost certainly draw a crowd of Republicans. And like Otter in 2014, Little will most likely face opposition from the GOP’s conservative wing.
Little was easily re-elected lieutenant governor in 2010 and 2014. Despite those statewide wins, Little only expects so much of a bump from his part-time lieutenant governor’s role.
“I fully expect to be the underdog,” Little told Dentzer.
There is a recent parallel to Little’s decision to jump in early. In late 2004, Otter announced his plans to run for governor in 2006 — even before then-Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said he would not be seeking re-election. Otter’s move gave him a jump on other prospective GOP rivals, such as then-Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who had made no secret of his interest in the top job.
And Little isn’t even the first statewide officeholder to address the 2018 election. In a December interview with Idaho Education News’ Clark Corbin, state superintendent Sherri Ybarra said she will seek a second term in 2018.