Bill Cismar, a Vancouver Republican, will challenge incumbent state Rep. Jim Jacks, a Democrat, in the 49th District, Position 1, race.
Cismar, a military veteran, worked in the high-tech industry for three decades before returning to school to pursue a career as a data network administrator. He said he is running to be an advocate for small and medium-sized businesses in the 49th, which includes West Vancouver and Hazel Dell.
“Jim Jacks says on his own website that his ‘significant career experience’ is that he was Gov. (Chris) Gregoire’s local representative,” Cismar said in a statement. “I think it is time for the 49th District to have someone be Vancouver’s representative in Olympia . . . I simply do not trust the current establishment to be sensitive to the real concerns of the people of Vancouver unless we make them so.”
Cismar said he favors more limitations on government and considers himself in touch with the needs and concerns of the average Vancouver citizen.
