<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Herrera for Congress

Fiscal-restraint ideas, solid campaigning make her the top choice in crucial showdown

The Columbian
Published: October 10, 2010, 12:00am

Back in August Jaime Herrera was one of two Republicans endorsed by The Columbian in the 3rd Congressional District’s primary race. Clark County voters concurred, giving her the top vote total locally in a six-candidate field, slightly ahead of Democrat Denny Heck, who also advanced to the fall finals.

Two months later our opinion about Herrera’s potential is as strong as ever. While her background might not be the perfect preparation (she lacks experience in the private sector), her fresh approach is, well, refreshing, and she’s still the best candidate. This is especially true as the 3rd District takes on national importance.

Herrera, a rapidly rising GOP star with three years’ experience as a state legislator, is embroiled in a tough campaign against Heck, who served five terms in the Legislature more than two decades ago, rising to the ranks of House majority leader. As their battle for U.S. representative has grown in intensity, Herrera’s vow to help impose fiscal restraints on Congress has become more compelling.

She’ll need all the determination she can muster in the homestretch of this race, because it’s ultra-close, as seen in the primary’s results. While Herrera led Heck by three-tenths of a percentage point in Clark County, Heck led throughout the 3rd District (Clark, Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties, and most of Thurston and Skamania counties), gaining 31.4 percent to Herrera’s 27.8. Each candidate more than doubled the vote total of any other challenger.

Those are the local and regional perspectives, but our corner of Washington has attracted national attention for the swing-district influence we could have in the other Washington. There, Republicans aim to retake the House, if not the Senate, and Democrats have become more like badgers than donkeys in fierce defense of their majorities. Anti-incumbency? Here in the 3rd, that was taken care of 10 months ago when Democrat Brian Baird announced his retirement after 12 years in Congress.

More than how well Herrera has campaigned, our endorsement is based on expectations of what she can do in Congress. Inside the Beltway (as much as inside the state Capitol in Olympia) Herrera can help design and promote spending controls that are needed to guide the nation and the Northwest beyond the recession. She’s not hesitant to provide details, noting the day after the primary: “Restructuring our tax system to encourage investment, passing market-oriented health care solutions that actually reduce costs of care, and passing a balanced budget amendment to ensure we stay on a sound fiscal course should be our top priorities.” None of those three ideas could be viewed as the exclusive province of conservatives or liberals, and that’s what makes them good ideas.

Both candidates know Clark County well. Herrera is a Prairie High School graduate, lived in Ridgefield as a legislator and lives in Camas as a candidate for Congress. Heck, a successful businessman in Olympia, grew up in Vancouver and represented the city as a legislator. But his refusal to move here, where his district’s population base is, is unacceptable to us. He’s running on the slogan “Give Congress Heck” as though, if elected, he will straighten out the mess in D.C. We don’t think so. If Heck gets elected, he should change the slogan to “Give Congress the same ol’, same ol’.” He says he’s got a plan to create jobs, and his success as a businessman supports that claim, but the national mood and regional needs call for radically new ideas from new public servants, not politicians from decades past.

Herrera does more than just talk about rendering government more efficient. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation ranked her tied for last among “Big Spenders” in the Legislature. We read that as tied for first among folks who understand government’s role in economic recovery. The time is right for sending Jaime Herrera to Congress.

Loading...