AUG. 6, 2010:NWLP
8/3/10
10:10 AM
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Unions weigh in on Washington primary races
VANCOUVER — Mail ballots
went out July 28 in Washington’s “top-
two” primary election, and must be
postmarked by Aug. 17 to be counted.
For each race, the top two vote-getters,
regardless of party affiliation, will ad-
vance to the November general elec-
tion.
In Southwest Washington, unions
are contributing money and volunteer
time to help endorsed candidates seek-
ing state and local office.
At the top of the ticket, incumbent
Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray
faces real-estate salesman and two-time
Republican gubernatorial candidate
Dino Rossi, and 13 less well known
candidates. Murray has a 90 percent
COPE (Committee on Political Educa-
tion) rating from the national AFL-CIO,
and is endorsed by the Washington
State Labor Council (WSLC), while
Rossi has a 6 percent AFL-CIO rating
from his time in the Washington Legis-
lature. Murray is a co-sponsor of the
Employee Free Choice Act, a bill in
Congress that would make it easier for
workers to unionize and get a first con-
tract; Rossi opposes the bill. As a legis-
lator, he voted to end cost-of-living in-
creases in the minimum wage, which
voters had approved 2-to-1.
Odds are good that Murray and
Rossi will be the top finishers, and will
battle it out through November.
Other statewide candidates running
with endorsements from WSLC include
Charlie Wiggins and Barbara Madsen
for Washington Supreme Court, and
Michael Spearman for Washington
Court of Appeals. Madsen and Spear-
man are running unopposed.
A number of unions have endorsed
Vancouver Democrat Denny Heck to
replace Washington Third District U.S.
Congressman Brian Baird, who is not
running for re-election. The race is con-
sidered a toss-up by political pundits
and is being closely watched by na-
tional Democrats and Republicans.
At this point, Heck doesn’t have the
endorsement of WSLC, but he’s ex-
pected to get it when the state labor fed-
eration meets for its Constitutional
Convention in Tacoma Aug. 9-12 .
At WSLC’s political convention in
May, WSLC endorsed Democratic
State Sen. Craig Pridemore, but he
dropped out of the race two weeks later.
A Vancouver native, Heck co-
founded Intrepid Learning Solutions,
Mel Conner, a retired business agent/organizer for IBEW Local 48, hoists a
political campaign sign for union-endorsed congressional candidate Denny
Heck. Digging holes for the sign in the background are from left to right:
Butch Lacy, Merle Munger, and Al Bauer. Lacy and Munger also are
members of Local 48. Bauer is a former state senator from Vancouver. The
crew, captained by Ed Barnes, retired business manager of Local 48, placed
90 Heck signs in Clark County during the last two weeks of July.
Digital Efficiency, and the TVW public
affairs network, (Washington State’s
version of C-SPAN). He was the 17th
District’s state representative from 1977
to 1987, House Majority Leader, and
then chief of staff to governor Booth
Gardner from 1989 to 1993.
Baird has endorsed Heck to succeed
him.
Also in the race are peace activist
Cheryl Crist, a Democrat from
Olympia, two Republicans — Jaime
Herrera and David Castillo, and Inde-
pendent Norma Jean Stevens.
Herrera has a 24 percent WSLC
COPE rating for her votes as state rep-
resentative for the 18th District. Castillo
is endorsed by the Washington, D.C.-
based conservative group Freedom
Works, which advocates Social Secu-
rity privatization and abolition of the es-
tate tax.
The Third Congressional District in-
cludes Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific,
Wahkiakum counties, and most of Ska-
mania and Thurston counties.
Three Southwest Washington Dem-
ocratic candidates for state representa-
tive have labor backing: District 49, Po-
sition 2, Jim Moeller; District 17,
Position 2, Monica Stonier; and District
18, Position 1, Dennis Kampe. [Several
other incumbent Democrats, including
Rep. Jim Jacks in District 49, failed to
get WSLC’s support for re-election be-
cause of budget votes opposed by the
Washington Federation of State Em-
ployees. Like Heck, Jacks also is ex-
pected to get a WSLC endorsement at
its Constitutional Convention in
Tacoma.]
• Moeller, an incumbent, is consid-
ered a solid labor ally, and has a 95 per-
cent lifetime AFL-CIO rating.
• Kampe has a good working rela-
tionship with unions, said Shannon
Walker, president of the Southwest
Washington Labor Council. He is di-
rector of the Clark County Skills Cen-
ter, which provides technical career
training to Southwest Washington high
school students. Kampe is the only De-
mocrat among the seven candidates in
the race.
• Stonier, who teaches language arts
and social studies at Pacific Middle
School, has been attacked by political
opponents for being a union member.
Seeking to represent District 17, she
faces a Republican and a millionaire
business Democrat in the race. The
Columbian newspaper backs the other
two, editorializing that Stonier “sings
pitch-perfect the talking point serenades
of … the teachers’ union.”
In local races, the Southwest Wash-
ington Central Labor Council made
several endorsements:
• Tony Golik, an AFSCME member,
for Clark County Prosecuting Attorney.
• Jill Johanson Court of Appeals, Di-
vision 2, District 3.
Aug. 9 is the deadline to register to
vote in the primary.
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AUGUST 6, 2010