Idaho candidate uses Romney ads to target LDS voters

BOISE — Idaho Republican Senate candidate Jim Risch is targeting campaign ads featuring former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at LDS voters in southern and eastern Idaho.

Risch is showing ads that don't feature Romney in the rest of the state.

Risch, who is running against rivals including Democrat Larry LaRocco and independent Rex Rammell, says Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, resonates in the region.

"We just followed the numbers," said Matt Ellsworth, his campaign spokesman.

Risch, Idaho's lieutenant governor, is a Catholic, like LaRocco.

Rammell, a member of the LDS Church, accused Risch of "pandering" to members of his faith.

"(Risch) holds his current position thanks to some strategic manipulation of the LDS community," he said.