LaRocco ran for the state's lieutenant governorship in 2006 and for the U.S. Senate in 2008, but was defeated by Jim Risch in the general election both times.

[1] LaRocco was born in Van Nuys, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.

On May 24, 1972, the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the precursor of the Red Army Faction, exploded a car bomb outside of Campbell Barracks which killed three of LaRocco's fellow soldiers.

In the 1982 elections, LaRocco was the Democratic nominee for Idaho's 1st congressional district; he lost to incumbent Larry Craig, but received 46.5 percent of the vote on his first try for public office.

[4] The vote proved to be quite unpopular in the district, and was exploited by Republicans in LaRocco's subsequent election campaigns.

LaRocco would be the last Democrat to represent Idaho in Congress until the election of Walt Minnick to the 1st congressional district seat in 2008.

On August 18, 2008, he and Independent candidate Rex Rammell met for a one-hour debate in Coeur d'Alene.

[citation needed] KLEW-TV, the CBS affiliate located in Lewiston, hosted a debate[11] on October 8 which featured Larry LaRocco, Jim Risch and Rex Rammell.

[14] KTVB-TV, the NBC affiliate located in Boise sponsored a debate[15] on October 21 between Jim Risch, Larry LaRocco, Rex Rammell and Pro-Life on the campus of Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa.