Shortly after Lynda Wilson announced she was running for longtime Republican Sen. Don Benton’s seat in the state Senate, her challenger sent her an email.
Democratic candidate Tim Probst told Wilson, a Republican, he wanted to run a positive campaign. He wanted to throw out the rule book and sit down for a series of meetings to define what the two candidates agree on.
“The paid campaign consultants will hate this idea — and that only makes it more fun!” Probst wrote Wilson.
Wilson responded she was looking forward to a “vigorous and clean campaign.”
That was nine months ago.
Today, with less than a month to go before the election, Wilson said her morning routine includes bracing herself, “I get up and say, ‘What’s going to come out today?’ ”
The mudslinging is coming from all directions.
There’s been a campaign advertisement of Probst with a Pinocchio nose, alleging he’s a liar. A truck cruised around downtown Vancouver with a giant tampon in the back, used to imply Wilson is anti-women.
The stakes are high in the race between Wilson and Probst — it could determine which party controls the state Senate — and it’s generated interest from both parties statewide. Some of the personal attacks aren’t directly from the candidates’ campaigns and they have no control over what is said.
But both candidates feel the pressure.
More than $670,000 has been poured into the race; Wilson has raised $363,346 and Probst has brought in $306,860 as of Friday.
When Probst ran in 2012 against Benton, who is not seeking re-election, he lost by a mere 76 votes. Many argue that loss, which helped ensure the demise of the Columbia River Crossing project, also changed the character of the region.
Democrat Probst
In 2012, when Probst ran against Benton, who is now the state’s campaign chairman for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Democrat promoted a similar “clean campaign” strategy.
It didn’t work in 2012, either. The battle between Benton and Probst was nasty and personal on both sides. Probst said one of his motivations to enter the race in 2016 was because he thought he would be up against Benton again. The race against Wilson is different, Probst said, adding he finds “Lynda to be a very nice person.”
But he’s touting Wilson’s role in creating the era of Benton and Clark County Councilor David Madore, which was marked by divisiveness.
“This community has been torn up by the Benton and Madore approach. I’m the right person to heal that. I was against it from the start,” Probst said, pointing out Wilson’s position as former leader of the Clark County Republican Party.
Probst grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. His father worked as a materials scientist for NASA, and his mom started an adaptive ski program for people with disabilities. He attended the University of Notre Dame, graduating with a degree in government and international relations. After graduating, Probst worked for Republican Gov. Jim Edgar of Illinois. He is currently the director of workforce development strategic initiatives for the Washington State Employment Security Department. His wife, Tahira Probst, is a professor at Washington State University Vancouver.
Probst said he was inspired to enter politics after a tour of Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration camp in Poland.
“When I was about 20, I was trying to decide: public services or the sciences or journalism? And I had the incredible opportunity — and the horrible opportunity — to tour Auschwitz. Within two hours, I had made up my mind for the rest of my life. Public service is incredibly important. The stakes are incredibly high,” Probst said at an event, which was captured on video.
Probst believes the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling should be overturned. He is in favor of the idea of automatic voter registration, against the idea of raising taxes — any kind of tax –and is in favor of the ballot measure that would create extreme risk protection orders, Initiative 1491.
He also believes Washington’s economy should be doing better.
“We have a state that should be the Michael Jordan of world economies. This state has everything going for it. If we establish a bit more focus, more prioritization, we could have a gang-busters economy and tons of middle-class jobs,” Probst said.
One of his proudest achievements while serving in the state Legislature was the creation of Opportunity Scholarships to help students pay for college. More than 10,000 scholarships have been awarded, and the state’s business community has contributed more than $60 million, according to his campaign.
Republican Wilson
Rep. Lynda Wilson was enjoying her time in the Statehouse.
But when Benton announced he wasn’t seeking re-election, the party turned to her.
“I think it’s important I win. If I’m at the table, it gives us the ability to have a voice. … We have to save this seat. I know what can come out of it if we lose that majority,” Wilson said.
If Republicans were to lose their narrow edge in the upper chamber and Democrats kept control of the House and the executive branch, it changes the entire conversation.
Wilson never envisioned herself in politics.
“It wasn’t on my bucket list,” she said. “But I enjoy serving in this capacity. It’s a way to give back to my community. It’s been my community for 45 years, and whatever I can do to make it better is my goal.”
Wilson’s father was in the military. Nearly every year until she was 13 and her father retired in Southwest Washington, she moved. She lived in Germany, Seattle, Portland, Arizona, Colorado.
“You’re always the new kid on the block. You have to learn to get along with people and make friends or you don’t have any,” she said, which is a skill she’s used as a legislator.
Wilson worked at the McDonald’s restaurant on Andresen Road as a teenager. She was part of the original crew when it opened. When they endorsed her last campaign, it felt particularly special. She graduated from Evergreen High School with honors, but couldn’t afford college besides periodic classes at Clark College.
When she was 19 she married, but the relationship didn’t last and she spent four years as a single mom working at Columbia Credit Union. There were times when she lived paycheck to paycheck. They were tough times, she said, but also formative. She met Tracy Wilson on a blind date when she was in her mid-20s. Once her three daughters got older, she joined her husband running DeWils Industries, a kitchen cabinet manufacturing company that Tracy Wilson’s father started in his garage.
Wilson took over the Clark County Republican Party at a time when it shifted philosophically to the right. She said people tend to want to paint her as only an ardent Republican. Most of the issues in Olympia, she said, are bipartisan — and said she’s proud of working across the aisle.
She believes the local Republican Party has taken it too far; recently they chose to not endorse fellow Republicans state Sen. Ann Rivers, of La Center, and U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, of Camas.
“We’re supposed to be the big-tent party,” she said. “We’re supposed to be including people with differing opinions.”
If elected, Wilson said her personal priorities would be to ensure there is more legislative oversight of state agencies.
She also introduced a measure that would dedicate the current sales tax from the purchase of feminine hygiene products to an account to help victims of domestic violence. It’s a topic that she knows intimately; something she dealt with personally as a child. Since becoming a lawmaker, she said, she’s also chatted with many domestic violence survivors.
“All of our experiences make us who we are today,” Wilson said.
Being a small-business owner, Wilson said, gives her the perspective of those in the private sector. Whether it’s rules regarding sick pay or insurance requirements, Wilson believes it’s not the government’s role to interfere. Wilson is also a National Rifle Association-certified gun instructor. She believes in protecting victims from gun abusers, but doesn’t believe the extreme-risk protection order measure on the November ballot is a well-written initiative.
