Herrera faces first election challenge

Last November, Jaime Herrera wowed Clark and Cowlitz county commissioners, who appointed the conservative Republican from a field of three finalists to fill the 18th District vacancy created by the resignation of Rep. Richard Curtis.

Now, Herrera, a 30-year-old former policy assistant to Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, faces her first true election contest, against 37-year-old Democrat VaNessa Duplessie, a Ridgefield businesswoman who originally filed to challenge Curtis 21 months ago.

Both women have strong professional credentials, and they agree on some issues, including the need to boost state support for basic education, the paramount responsibility of government under the state constitution. Both support effective vocational education. Each says she would work across party lines to get things accomplished in Olympia.

Herrera won the top two primary handily, with 60 percent to Duplessie’s 40 percent.

During the 2008 legislative session, she formed a close alliance with fellow 18th District Republican Sen. Joe Zarelli and Rep. Ed Orcutt on budget and social issues. The three have held several joint campaign appearances.

Herrera says she hit the ground running in her first session by protecting $11 million in state funding for the Ridgefield Interstate 5 interchange; introducing a successful floor amendment on a health care bill that requires the insurance commissioner to propose legislation that would allow Washington residents to buy insurance in other states; and winning passage of her first self-standing bill, which relieves active-duty military personnel of interest and penalties on delinquent excise taxes.

“That’s pretty impressive for a junior member of the minority party,” she said.

Building on her background in federal health care policy in Washington, D.C., Herrera recently won appointment to the House Health and Long-term Care Committee.

A fiscal as well as a social conservative, she said she would look for abuses in Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, as one way to cut state spending in the face of a projected $3.2 billion deficit.

“More and more, I feel my job is to protect people from the state government,” she said.

She also wants to look at what the state is getting for the $9,500 per student it spends on K-12 education. “I am for fully funding education, but what is the return on our investment?” she said. “Our high school graduation rates are unacceptable.”

A graduate of Prairie High School and the University of Washington, Herrera left her job on Capitol Hill to run for the Legislature. She is single and lives in Ridgefield.

Duplessie, married and the mother of two young children, has a degree in business from San Francisco State University. She manages public relations for a Bellevue technology company, telecommuting from her Ridgefield home, and also works as a consultant.

She moved to Clark County in 2001 after four years in Portland following a move from the Bay Area in 1997. She ran for the Ridgefield School Board in 2005 but was disqualified after it was determined that she was not a resident of the district.

Duplessie won the 2006 George C. Marshall Public Leadership Award for her work in mentoring young people in Oregon’s Multnomah County. She has remained active in children’s issues.

“I jumped into this race almost 21 months ago because of my children,” she said. “I want my kids to get a good education. I’m cautious financially. I want to help small businesses.”

She said she chose to run as a Democrat though she describes herself as “a lifelong independent who votes for whoever I think is going to do a better job.”

Duplessie said she can be more effective for the 18th District as a member of the Democratic Party, which controls the House and Senate. “I’ll be in the room where people are making decisions,” she said.