Democrat Elizabeth Uelmen announced Thursday afternoon that she’s withdrawing from this year’s race for the 3rd Congressional District seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas.
In her announcement, Uelmen, a school administrator, attributed the suspension of her campaign to inadequate fundraising and the demands of juggling her campaign with her job and spending time with her family.
“As a working mother and wife, it is extremely challenging to run a visible and viable campaign and give the kids at my school the attention they need and deserve while trying to raise the amount of money required to pay campaign expenses,” she said in the statement. “I have evaluated my fundraising capacity between now and the primary and general elections, and determined that I will not be able to raise the necessary funds to continue forward with the campaign.”
Uelmen is the associate principal at Frontier Middle School in the Evergreen school district. She has never served in a political office.
Uelmen has worked in the education field since 1993. Before working for Evergreen, she taught high school science, math and special education in Camas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science and secondary education from the University of Portland and a master’s degree in educational leadership from City University.
Herrera Beutler won election to the 3rd District in 2010 and began her first two-year term last January.
Democrat Jon T. Haugen, a former Navy pilot who ran for the state Senate in 2008, is Herrera Beutler’s only remaining challenger at this point.
Marsha Manning, a volunteer with Uelmen’s campaign, said Uelmen is not making any endorsements in the race at this stage in the election.
“I got into this race to make a difference and to help restore the middle class that is struggling to make a living,” Uelmen said. “Like so many others, I must also make difficult choices in order to maintain employment and put my family first.”
Stevie Mathieu: 360-735-4523, http://www.facebook.com/reportermathieu, http://www.twitter.com/col_politics, stevie.mathieu@columbian.com
