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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Censure effort could benefit Herrera Beutler

Experts: Reputation as a moderate may be advantageous

By , Columbian Political Writer
Published:

In a letter defending herself to the local Republican Party, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, touted her conservative stripes: an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and a consistent pro-life voting record.

She’s come under fire in recent weeks from some members of the local Clark County Republican Party, who pushed to vote at their next meeting on whether to censure the congresswoman, in part, for establishing “a pattern of voting with Democrats to increase spending, increase the debt, and increase regulations.”

By their accounting, Herrera Beutler is too centrist.

But here’s the thing, a moderate reputation could help Herrera Beutler, said Multnomah County, Ore., Republican Chair Eric Fruits, who sees the censure discussion as being advantageous for the congresswoman.

“If I were her, I would be working with her staff to do that triangulation because she has strong conservative credentials and if she can say, ‘I can also be a moderate when I need to be a moderate,’ that may help,” Fruits said. “Plus, if she is like most politicians, she has her eyes on something bigger, and it may give her broader statewide appeal she might need.”

The motion for consideration to censure Herrera Beutler was introduced by Precinct Committee Officer Joseph Wagner and approved 59-49.

In a document, Wagner pointed out several votes the congresswoman cast that he considered censure-worthy.

But the congresswoman voted with many members of the Republican caucus on those votes.

“To single her out as more pro-Obama is like taking on half the Republican caucus in Washington, D.C.,” said Todd Donovan, a political scientist with Western Washington University.

“I think by highlighting the fact that she might vote on bills that get a lot of Democrats and Republicans on board, you’re doing her a favor,” Donovan said. “People like to hear that.”

According to a ranking done by OpenCongress, which is operated by a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for open government, out of nearly 300 votes Herrera Beutler cast this session, she’s voted with her party 89.8 percent of the time.

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, votes with his party 93.8 percent of the time, according to the ranking.

Clark County Republican Chair Kenny Smith wrote in an email that the motion was simply “a willingness to hear debate about censure at the next meeting.”

Whether people voted in favor of the resolution to consider censure “because they were for censure, against censure or just wanted to allow their fellow (precinct committee officers) to speak is completely unknown at this time.”

Smith added that he’s not running a “heavy-handed, top-down organization,” and he’s encouraging members of his party to “debate any issue they desire.”

Smith added that at this point, it’s premature to even discuss what the motion could look like.

Susan Hutchison, the chair of the state’s Republican Party, said there was only a small number of people involved in the censure motion, and they don’t speak for the larger Clark County Republican Party or the state Republican Party.

“So what you need to do is report this as a small group of discontents,” Hutchison told The Columbian.

“I would be very, very surprised if the fine people of the Clark County Republican Party voted to censure,” Hutchison said.

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Columbian Political Writer