Bryan Baird of Vancouver filed Friday afternoon for the 3rd District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Brian Baird.
Clever, right?
But Bryan-with-a-y’s campaign was a short-lived lesson in civics.
The graduate of Columbia River High School doesn’t turn 25 — the minimum age to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives — until March.
At first it seemed as if he may have just wasted the $1,740 filing fee (filing fees are one percent of the annual salary of the position), and his filing set staffers at the Secretary of State’s and Attorney General’s offices scrambling. Do they just reject his filing? Or would another candidate have to formally challenge Baird’s eligibility?
Stephanie Horn, deputy communications director for Secretary of State Sam Reed, said late Friday afternoon that Reed decided to simply reject the filing and refund the filing fee.
Baird, who filed as an independent, could not be reached for comment.
By the 5 p.m. deadline to file for the Aug. 17 primary, his name had been deleted from the online list of candidates.
Even with the disqualification of the youngster, there’s no shortage of people vying for Baird’s seat.
Six candidates filed, including Jaime Herrera, a Camas Republican who opted to run for Baird’s seat rather than try to keep her 18th District state Legislature position, and David Hedrick, a Camas Republican and Tea Party activist.
Other candidates are Democrat Denny Heck of Olympia, Republican David Castillo of Olympia, Democrat Cheryl Crist of Olympia and Norma Jean Stevens, an independent from Ocean Park.
On the Republican side, U.S. Army combat veteran and political newcomer Chris Boyd of Vancouver failed to file by Friday’s deadline. He threw his support to Castillo, an Olympia financial adviser and former official in the George W. Bush administration.
“I’ve been battling myself all week,” Boyd said. “I didn’t join to drop out.”
But he said family issues and his late entry into the race led to his decision.
“I felt David was close to my values. He earned my vote,” he said of his endorsement of Castillo.
The top two finishers in the August primary will advance to the general election on Nov. 2.
Kathie Durbin contributed to this story.
