Brandon Vick
Age: 30
City: Vancouver/Felida
Occupation: Sales and marketing manager for Vick Landscaping
Party affiliation: Republican
Notable endorsements: Building Industry Association of Clark County; Association of Washington Business; House Republican Leader Dan Kristiansen; Gun Owners Action League of Washington; Washington State Farm Bureau.
Total funds raised: $77,881
Campaign website: www.electbrandonvick.com
Mike Briggs
Age: 62
City: Washougal
Occupation: Retired from lumber business
Party affiliation: Democratic
Notable endorsements: AFT of Washington, Association of Professionals, AFL-CIO; Washington Federation of State Employees, Association of Professionals, AFL-CIO; Sierra Club – Washington State Chapter; Clark County Commissioner Ed Barnes.
Total funds raised: $32,853
Campaign website: www.briggs4rep.com
Republican Brandon Vick, who hopes to be re-elected to his House seat in the 18th Legislative District, admitted he used a little more “French” than he planned in a recent candidate forum while responding to his Democratic opponent Mike Briggs.
Brandon Vick
Age: 30
City: Vancouver/Felida
Occupation: Sales and marketing manager for Vick Landscaping
Party affiliation: Republican
Notable endorsements: Building Industry Association of Clark County; Association of Washington Business; House Republican Leader Dan Kristiansen; Gun Owners Action League of Washington; Washington State Farm Bureau.
Total funds raised: $77,881
Campaign website:www.electbrandonvick.com
Mike Briggs
Age: 62
City: Washougal
Occupation: Retired from lumber business
Party affiliation: Democratic
Notable endorsements: AFT of Washington, Association of Professionals, AFL-CIO; Washington Federation of State Employees, Association of Professionals, AFL-CIO; Sierra Club - Washington State Chapter; Clark County Commissioner Ed Barnes.
Total funds raised: $32,853
Campaign website:www.briggs4rep.com
Briggs was touting his experience in the wood products industry, suggesting it’s time voters consider a candidate who isn’t just “doing his best, plugging along, learning as he goes.”
Briggs compared his experience favorably with Vick’s occupation as the marketing manager for his family’s landscaping business.
“Now, albeit landscaping is important, and I love it,” Briggs said, “it’s not as big as the forest products industry and I got a lot of experience there as a lumber trader and working with the rail.”
Vick fired back.
“For anybody to slam a small-business owner regardless of the size is one of the most asinine things I’ve ever heard,” Vick said. “I’m proud of Mike Briggs for whatever he’s done in his life, but I’ll tell you what, dude, landscaping is maybe not an industry that’s up to snuff for you, but it feeds my family.”
Vick dropped some expletives later.
The exchange was caught on camera and has been shared on Facebook a handful of times and watched on YouTube more than 300. The tense interaction comes only a few weeks before the Nov. 4 general election in what has otherwise been a relatively friendly campaign. In a three-way primary, the Democratic challenger Briggs captured the largest percentage of the votes, with 37.9 percent, to Vick’s 35.19 percent. The other Republican, John Ley, garnered 26.84 percent.
Vick currently serves on six legislative committees, including government accountability and appropriations. The Republican lawmaker is also on the Legislative Ethics Board and recently joined his colleagues in voting to limit the number of meals lawmakers can accept from lobbyists to 12 a year.
Vick said he’s often called upon to act as a peacemaker when there’s an impasse in Olympia. He opposed the Columbia River Crossing and is opposed to raising taxes to satisfy the Supreme Court’s ruling in the McCleary case. In that case, the court ruled that the Legislature must do more to adequately fund the state’s public schools.
When it comes to the proposed oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver, Vick said he believes the environmental process should be allowed to take its course. Then, if the safety and environmental concerns are met, he would be supportive.
Briggs said he is not in favor of the proposed oil-by rail terminal.
Vick, he noted, “has taken money from (project proponent) Tesoro to encourage the oil.”
“I’m not for that,” Briggs said.
Briggs, who is from Washougal, is currently attending Portland State University and studying political science and creative nonfiction. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1971 to 1975. If elected, he said, his highest priority would be funding education.
Briggs said the tough reality is, the state will likely have to raise taxes to meet the McCleary requirements. “Whatever we do, we’d better do it soon,” he said at a recent candidate forum. “In one generation, folks, we can be looking at an uneducated workforce, people looking at flipping burgers or going to war, and I think there should be more than that.”
Briggs supports the state’s continuing to work toward replacing the Interstate 5 bridge and said he would do his best to end partisan bickering in Olympia.
He touts his backing by labor unions and told voters recently, “I want to fight for you; I need your vote to do so.”
