Candidates for Congressional seat left open by Rep. Brian Baird tout pro-business credentials
The electoral contest to succeed veteran Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) is heating up on both sides of the political spectrum.
For the candidates still in the race, much is at stake in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 17 primary and beyond to November's general election. However, for Southwest Washington's business community, even more could be on the line as the Third Congressional District – which stretches from the Olympia area to the western reaches of the Columbia River Gorge – votes at the tail-end of the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
For Republican Third Congressional candidates Jaime Herrera and David Castillo, the race began in earnest even before Baird made the announcement Dec. 9 that he would retire after the completion of his sixth term in the House of Representatives later this year.
Along with ex-marine and Internet video celebrity David Hedrick, the Republicans look to face off in November with former House Majority Leader Denny Heck, who became the front running Democrat in the race after his chief competitor, state Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-Vancouver), dropped out of the contest before the filing deadline.
Heck also faces Democrat Cheryl Crist and Independent Party candidate Norma Jean Stevens in the August primary.
In separate interviews with the VBJ, Herrera and Castillo touted their respective business bonafides in the hopes of passing this summer's primary test and capitalizing on what promises to be a challenging year for Democrats, both regionally and nationally (as of VBJ's press time, Hedrick was unavailable for an interview).
"There is a clear distinction between people like me who have worked in the private sector and others who have not," said Castillo, a military veteran, a former senior official for the Veterans Administration at Fort Lewis and a current financial planner based in Thurston County.
Herrera, currently a state representative serving her first full term in the 18th Legislative District, countered with what she called her "free market-centric" voting record in Olympia, which earned her a Guardian of Small Business Award this year from the National Federation of Independent Business.
In an effort to distinguish himself as the "true" conservative in the race, Castillo called attention to Herrera's votes on two key bills passed during the recently-completed regular and special legislative sessions in Olympia.
The first was Herrera's "yes" vote on H.B. 1329, a piece of legislation she co-sponsored allowing day care workers to form unions. Her vote was one of only six Republican votes for the bill, which passed the Democrat-controlled House, 62 to 35, and then the state Senate to become law.
"Her pro-business rhetoric does not match her record," Castillo said.
Herrera defended her "yes" vote and co-sponsorship of the bill, which she said was the result of concerns voiced by members of the day care industry in her district. At the same time, Herrera characterized H.B. 1329 as an "outlier" vote and not indicative of her three-year record in state government.
Castillo also criticized Herrera for joining majority Democrats in taking $229 million during this year's legislative session from the state's rainy day fund to help balance the budget. In response, Herrera said she voted with Democrats and key members of the Republican leadership to raid the fund because of the historic challenge posed by an estimated $2.8 billion state budget gap.
"In my mind, it was raise taxes or take money from the rainy day fund," she said. "And I'll choose taking money from the fund over taxes every time."
Meanwhile, Heck continued a mostly low-key campaign, resisting comparisons with another Democrat who, though he may not appear on this year's ballot, still loomed large over the contest. "I spend zero time comparing myself to someone I'm not running against," he said of Baird.
However, Heck's independent alignment on regional and national issues hewed closely to that of Baird, who in his 12 years in Congress developed a reputation for bucking the party line on issues related to environmental protection, healthcare reform and the Iraq War.
"There is too much blame game on both sides," Heck said, in regards to what he called a "completely unsustainable" federal budget deficit. "I say, ‘A pox on both their houses.'"
A telephone survey conducted June 13-14 by opinion research firm Moore Information of Portland for the Herrera campaign indicated an uphill climb for GOP challengers Castillo and Hedrick, as well as a tough fight for Democrats looking to hold a historically tough swing district.
According to the survey results, Herrera is favored by 27 percent of voters preferring a Republican for Congress, with Castillo and Hedrick tied at 8 percent. However, the number of undecided voters in the survey was pegged at a relatively-high 49 percent – a figure expected to decline as ballots begin hitting mailboxes in the district late this month.
In response to a question asking voters to choose between a Republican and Democratic candidate on Election Day, 42 percent of survey respondents preferred the GOP versus 35 percent for the Democrats, with 20 percent undecided and 3 percent responding "neither."
