Only Pridemore, Hedrick have gaps in record
Should a political candidate’s voting record count as a campaign issue?
It has become one of late. In last year’s Vancouver mayoral race, a labor union backing Royce Pollard pointed out that the mayor’s opponent, Tim Leavitt, had a less-than-stellar voting record. Leavitt won anyway.
Across the river in the current Oregon governor’s contest, both a former Portland Trail Blazer and a former governor have caused consternation by conceding that they have missed multiple recent elections.
Given all that, the good news is that seven of the nine candidates who have announced for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Brian Baird have perfect track records for turning in their ballots. That’s perfect as in not a single vote missed, not even in an obscure local school levy election.
The exceptions are state Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who has missed five votes since September 2000, and Republican David Hedrick of Camas, who has missed eight of the past nine elections.
Compare that with Olympia Democrat Denny Heck, who has a perfect voting record dating back to at least November 1994, when the Thurston County auditor’s office first began keeping track, or peace activist Cheryl Crist, also an Olympia Democrat, who has voted in every election since November 1993.
State Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver; state Rep. Jaime Herrera, R-Camas; Olympia financial advisor David Castillo, a Republican; Washougal City Councilor Jon Russell, a Republican; and Hispanic activist Maria Rodriguez-Salazar of Vancouver, a Democrat, also have voted in every election in which they were eligible to vote since they first registered in the county where they live now.
Pridemore, a former Clark County commissioner who is serving his second four-year term in the state Senate, missed a February 2005 special parks district levy election; a February 2006 special election; a February 2008 presidential preference primary; an April 2008 special election; and the August 2009 primary election.
He blames himself, but also Clark County’s shift to the all-mail ballot.
“I’m one of those guys who never missed voting when we went to the polls, even in special elections,” he said. “With vote by mail, it’s much harder to remember the special elections.”
Pridemore noted that three missed elections occurred during legislative sessions while he was working and living in Olympia. “I don’t know that I even saw the ballots until after session was over,” he said in an e-mail.
He doesn’t recall the April 2008 election, and said his 2009 primary ballot “had only one contested fire commissioner race.” Because he lives outside the city of Vancouver, he was ineligible to vote in last August’s hotly contested Vancouver mayor’s race. “I filled it out and had it in my car but never got down to the auditor’s office to drop it off,” he said.
Pridemore also pointed out that for Democrats, the 2008 presidential preference primary had no real meaning because the state party selected all its delegates to the national convention through neighborhood caucuses. Pridemore ran the caucus meeting for the 49th District.
Record disputed
Hedrick, who gained notoriety for his comments at Baird’s town hall on health care reform last summer, first registered to vote in Clark County in September 2003. He didn’t miss a vote through the November 2006 general election but has missed eight out of nine elections since.
A spokesman for Hedrick’s campaign said in an e-mail that Hedrick “has voted in very major election since he reached the age of majority.”
“The information you have is not accurate,” the anonymous spokesman said. “David did recall that he had to go back in and refill out his voter registration because of some kind of error 1 to 2 years ago. He doesn’t remember the specific reason for this, but suspects this may be the cause in any discrepancy.”
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey stood by the voting records he provided to The Columbian.
“I provided you the voter registration records information we have for David W. Hedrick who resides in Camas, Washington, date of birth Jan. 25, 1979,” he said in an e-mail. “That record reflects information that we have and we believe it to be accurate. If someone believes there are inaccuracies, I encourage them to contact us and to provide us with information as to why these records are incorrect and we will evaluate that.”
So how much does a candidate’s voting record matter? Quite a bit, says Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state’s top elections official, but it shouldn’t be the only factor voters take into consideration.
“It is indicative of a commitment to the election process,” Reed said. “It is one’s fundamental civil responsibility as a citizen of the United States. Having said that, in terms of qualifications for Congress, it certainly doesn’t rank the highest in terms of one’s ability to serve. It takes brainpower and talent to serve in Congress.”
Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.
