Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, seems to be reinventing herself. An op-ed piece from Beutler, several “In Our View” editorials quoting her viewpoints, stating her positions, and glowing articles from “Our Readers’ Views.”
Her voting record January 2011 through May 2016 shows she missed 503 out of 3,729 votes, a 13 percent absence rate six times the average of fellow House members, ranking her 51st out of 434 voting members.
Since having a close re-election against Carolyn Long, Herrera Beutler now is making a huge effort to reinvent herself. She states she is not voting with the president on all issues (voted 91.6 percent with him in 2017-2018), and will be making independent decisions based upon our needs. Sponsoring a bill to enable people to get insurance with pre-existing conditions, she has repeatedly voted to stop the Affordable Care Act.
Perhaps she has found her moral center, begun to think for herself, and placed the good of the people ahead of party politics. We will wait to see if this trend continues, or is a passing phase. She has two more years to prove which it is.
