Raul Labrador (R-Idaho)

From 1987 to 1989, Labrador was in Chile on a church mission. After finishing his degree in Spanish in 1992, Labrador briefly moved to Boise with his wife before earning his law degree from the University of Washington.

After working as a law clerk and in a private firm in Seattle, Labrador returned to Boise where he would eventually open his law firm known for its immigration casework. Among his notable cases was that of Javier Sotelo, a Mexican citizen legally residing in the U.S. who was convicted in 2000 in connection to smuggling to immigrants into the U.S. "My job as an immigration lawyer is to present to the judge a case and say, yes, he committed the crimes, and he's coming to ask forgiveness of the court," said Labrador about the case. "Will you allow him to stay in the United States?"

In 2001, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) appointed Labrador to a Senate advisory committee on Hispanic issues.

Labrador won his first elected seat in 2006, claiming a seat in the state House. Labrador's major impacts on state politics included helping oust the state GOP's moderate chairman, Kirk Sullivan, and helping sink Gov. Butch Otter's (R) plan to increase the fuel tax in 2009.

2010 House Race

Labrador entered the race to unseat first-term Rep. Walt Minnick (D) in 2010. With surprising force and by nine percentage points, Labrador won the nomination by besting Vaughn Ward, a decorated Iraq veteran who was the party leaders' pick, a National Republican Congressional Committee Young Gun who had support from high-profile party leaders like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Minnick led Labrador in both early fundraising and polling. Minnick also had the honor of being the only national Democrat to win the endorsement of the Tea Party Express. After Minnick rejected it, the organization supported Labrador.

Labrador also continued to criticize then-House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (Ohio). But after resisting national party support for several months after his primary victory, Labrador realized he couldn't win the close race without the NRCC; he doubled back and joined the Young Guns in August 2010.

Despite being an underdog to the conservative Minnick, Labrador trumped the incumbent by 10 points, 51 to 41 percent. Pundits attributed the upset to underestimated voter discontent.

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