Jacks re-elected to 49th Legislative District seat

One-term state Rep. Jim Jacks has been re-elected to the 49th Legislative District Position 1 seat. Jacks, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Bill Cismar 57.4 percent to 42.4 percent, according to preliminary results released Tuesday night.

The win didn’t come easy, though. Jacks said he went door-to-door every day for the last two weeks, knocking on 1,487 doors and walking 93 miles.

“It just shows, if you work really hard and hear what they have to say on their doorstep, I think they’ll vote for you,” Jacks said.

Jacks said he has a reputation of listening to his constituents and has used that for the benefit of Clark County residents. For example, he worked with other legislators to keep Larch Corrections Center open earlier this year and helped win reinstatement of a program to crack down on vehicle-license scofflaws, Jacks said.

“We’ve had some very good wins in this community,” he said.

Jacks moved to Vancouver in 2006.

During his first legislative term, Jacks served on the Capital Budget, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Technology, Energy and Communications committees. He’s also served as Southwest Washington representative for Gov. Chris Gregoire and as citizen advocate for the city of Vancouver.

In the August primary, Jacks outpolled Cismar 55.2 percent to 44.2 percent. Both candidates campaigned on the need to help small businesses but had starkly different views on how to resolve the challenges facing the 2011 Legislature.

The 49th District encompasses Vancouver west of Interstate 205 and Hazel Dell.