Local wrap up. (Leg races)

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Most votes are in, and few races at the primary level are subject to change as a result of late ballots.

The top two in the 18th were essentially pre-ordained. The democrats ran a single candidate, Dennis Kampe, so his ascension to the general was more or less assured, and his 33%+ got the job done.

Unfortunately, for the dems in the 18th, the 33% figure is particularly weak going into the general when the remaining 66%+ represents an activated GOP in what is increasingly certain to be a GOP year.

Ann Rivers is the leading Republican. Her 27%+ represents almost half of the entire GOP vote in the 18th (Spread out among 4 GOP candidates)… with around 11% going to the 2 independents.

Kampe is hamstrung by his classic democrat themes that have been such a poor fit in this fiscally conservative district. His support of the bridge/light rail project dooms his candidacy as that support dooms the candidacy of anyone outside the Soviet Socialist Republic of Vancouver, since no justification that passes the straight face test can be found for this colossal waste of time and money. He will have to support the unconstitutional and hated-in-the-district state income tax, all while opposing privatization as a philosophy generally and the effort to privatize the state monopoly on liquor sales specifically dooms him out of the gate.

It is not government’s function to provide jobs, particularly the most expensive jobs imaginable (union) as a justification to slam the residents of Clark County generally and the commuting population in particular with billions in debt that will not be paid off over the life of the next generation merely to get light rail into this county.

Further, Dennis has the wrong letter after his name. Any democrat elected makes it just that much more difficult to bring some level of fiscal sanity back to the legislature.

Rivers rightfully opposes any bridge that will burden the local economy by blowing a $100,000,000+ hole in the disposable income of 65,000 commuters through tolls.

While I would go much farther by opposing the replacement of the current, perfectly serviceable bridge, being replaced entirely and only to bring light rail into Vancouver; making this the most expensive and unnecessary public works project for its purpose in, perhaps, the history of the planet; if we must have this bridge, requiring that it be built without crippling economic impact locally is not a bad compromise.

Further, she has ideas concerning true government transparency, budgeting processes, restoration of I-960, small business tax and regulatory relief that would, even if Kampe did support such concepts, put him at odds with the rest of his caucus.

Rivers’ understanding of the district, her experience in the system, her vision, her use of available assets to address the issues confronting us and her conservative values make her the obvious choice in the 18.

The remainder of the candidates ran various types of races. Some, like Russell, used character assassination, lies and exaggeration as campaign techniques. As the Columbian pointed out:

“Russell, the owner of a Washougal medical clinic, dropped out of the 3rd Congressional District race in February and entered the 18th District contest, where he struggled with fundraising and questions about his educational background.”

With increasing rumor of the formation of a recall effort abounding, formal investigation by the Health Systems Quality Assurance Board, several pending Public Disclosure Commission Complaints all looming on the horizon, Russell isn’t in a terribly comfortable place. Hopefully, we’ve seen the last of him at any political level, given his rejection by the voters.

Next is Brandon Vick. Brandon was hamstrung, perhaps, by bad advice from Hal Palmer, who wound up working with Vick after Shannon Barnett ran into “personal problems” and had to leave the election. Palmer had been running Barnett’s abortive effort, and Barnett ran into the problem of his almost 20-year long employer maxing out… to Ann Rivers while not giving him a dime, certainly a problematic issue for Barnett.

Much like Russell brought his abysmal congressional campaign fund raising skills to the table, Palmer brought his abysmal political skills to the table for Brandon. Vick could not overcome bad advice and a horrific work schedule (a schedule that forced him to run a minimal campaign as real life job requirements limited his available campaign time) so he received a very small vote (5.6%)

But don’t let that fool you. Vick is quality goods with a strong core and good values. He speaks very well in public, connects with his audience and has a very good future in the political world. He’s one to keep an eye on.

Bittner was a joke who will cause major problems for anyone else who tries to run from his position of, effectively, being a child. The 350 votes he got was about 349 more then he deserved.

All in all, it was a tough race, made tougher by the interference of Russell’s goon squad, buttressed by misguided Herrera supporters who rather stupidly believed they could attack Ann by attacking me.

What a waste of time that was for them.

In the 17th District, Brain Peck smacked Tim Probst upside the electoral head. Peck should wind up with 52%+ of the vote as the traditional right-breaking ballots come in over the next few days. Probst, using incumbency, has raised 3 times the money of Peck. Peck, on the other hand, has proven that money isn’t everything. Message, party affiliation and energy all have an impact on outcomes in races… and this stands as additional proof that the 17th, a classically swing district, is swinging back to the right.

Paul Harris gained 54% in his race in the 17th, taking out Martin Hash and Monica Stonier.

Hash filed short form as he mailed in his campaign, more or less, and wound up getting the endorsement of the Columbian. Stonier, who has the democrat establishment behind her, is laboring under the misconception that as an Obama delegate to the democrat national convention, Obama’s horrific performance won’t hang around her neck like a big gold chain.

Put these two in the R column as pick ups.

Cross posted at Jon Russell Watch.
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