Jacks, Peterson seek to succeed Fromhold

Debbie Peterson

Jim Jacks

State Rep. Bill Fromhold left a void in Olympia — and the 49th District — when the popular Democrat announced last year that he would leave the Legislature after four terms to head a national math initiative.

Democrat Jim Jacks, Gov. Chris Gregoire’s liaison to Southwest Washington for two and a half years, and Republican Debbie Peterson, an elementary school teacher and longtime neighborhood activist, want to fill that void.

Jacks drew 58.4 percent of the vote in the top two primary to 26.9 percent for Peterson. A third candidate, John Nyberg, attracted 14.5 percent of the vote and was eliminated from contention.

Jacks, 38, left the governor’s office, where he was Gregoire’s troubleshooter on issues in eight counties, to campaign for the Legislature. He’s working part-time as a business development specialist for MacKay & Sposito Inc.

He says his nine years of community service, including six years working with the public in various jobs with the city of Vancouver, have prepared him to be an effective lawmaker. During that time, he handled 4,500 complaints from citizens about city services.

His campaign materials say that if elected, Jacks would work to create world-class schools, affordable health care and an efficient health care system. But given the state budget’s projected $3.2 billion shortfall, he admits he could find himself fighting just to hold on to existing programs,

“I will have to be an advocate for the district,” he said. “If we don’t push hard, other parts of the state will prevail. I have a lot of history as an advocate.”

To prepare for serving in the Legislature, he’s worked a shift at an assisted living center, visited the Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program and tried to become knowledgeable about other state-funded programs.

“You have to learn about these systems and organizations,” he said. “I don’t want to have the job, I want to do the job.”

Peterson, 56, is a former teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Vancouver. A resident of Vancouver for 30 years, she won a Bill and Melinda Gates Grant for Technology, which brought her classroom $10,000 in computer hardware and provided her with special training.

She has made her name locally for her outspoken opposition to tolls and light rail on a new bridge over the Columbia River and her support for a third bridge to carry freight and ease congestion on the Interstate 5 span.

“I spent a lot of time on transportation, but it took away from my campaign,” she said. “It was a trade-off. The bridge issue was so important. And the reason I’m running is to help the 49th District.”

She has campaigned against the Cowlitz Casino, and in the 1980 helped run a program that let elderly families in the Hough and Rosemere neighborhoods stay in their homes.

Peterson said she’s been forced to run a shoestring campaign, but that’s OK.

“We don’t have a lot of money but we have had a pretty aggressive campaign,” she said. “We have amazing volunteers. If you want to talk fiscal conservative, just look at my campaign.”