PORTLAND — Congressional candidates Jaime Herrera and Denny Heck disagreed over the federal government’s proper role in lifting Clark County out of the economic doldrums Friday in a fast-paced 22-minute debate scheduled for broadcast by KGW-TV at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
The two are locked in a close race for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Brian Baird.
Republican Herrera repeated her assertion that the $800 billion stimulus has failed to create jobs and said the federal government should cut spending, get out of the way and let businesses recover on their own without bailouts or other interventions.
“When government picks winners and losers, we all lose,” she said.
Democrat Heck said that with 13 percent unemployment in Clark County, the district needs Congress to be an active partner by helping businesses get access to credit, fixing the federal tax code and investing in infrastructure.
Rebutting Herrera’s claim that the stimulus has failed, he said, “Every mainstream economist says it saved or created 1.4 million to 3 million jobs.”
Heck said he would have voted for the stimulus but added that it was far from perfect, noting that half the money it dedicated to infrastructure projects remains unspent and that it failed to target struggling areas like the 3rd District for extra help. “I would have fixed it,” he said.
The debate, taped for broadcast on KGW’s “Straight Talk” public affairs program, featured clips of TV attack ads that have been aired on behalf of both candidates. Moderator Russ Lewis speculated that many Clark County residents won’t know much more about the candidates than what they see in those ads and pointedly asked both why they aren’t debating in the district’s most populous county.
Herrera said she will appear at a candidate forum at Camas High School on Monday that the Heck campaign has declined, citing a previous commitment.
Heck said he will show up at a debate sponsored by the League of Women voters on Wednesday with or without Herrera, who has cited a conflict and won’t attend that event.
