The race for the 3rd Congressional District, the seat representing the people of Southwest Washington in Congress, is quietly underway.
Challenger Bob Dingethal — who is up against incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas — described his campaign strategy as trying to “use a rifle, instead of a shotgun.”
“We’re trying to address people in the most efficient way,” Dingethal said.
And, he admitted, at times the rifle sounds a bit muffled.
But, his campaign manager Nick Ande said, “if we had $2 million dollars, we would have (more advertisements) up by now.”
Instead, Dingethal has $19,911 cash on hand, according to the federal election commission website. Herrera Beutler has $880,201 cash on hand.
Ballots are scheduled to go out in less than a month, and the two candidates have yet to face each other in a debate, and have none scheduled. They both plan to attend a candidate forum on Oct. 13 at Camas High School.
In an election year in which Washington voters won’t be choosing a new president, governor or senator, it can be difficult to generate a buzz. Dingethal has taken a grass-roots approach; knocking on doors, appearing in more than 15 community parades and showing up to speak at events ranging from the Rotary Club of Vancouver to the Marijuana Business Association.
This week he kicked off a three-day series of town hall events throughout Southwest Washington. Dingethal is hitting Herrera Beutler on one of her perceived weakness: the incumbent has come under repeated fire for being elusive and not holding traditional town halls.
Dingethal has joined her detractors and criticized Herrera Beutler for being aloof and not more proactive in participating in debates.
“You would think I would be at a huge disadvantage against someone who has been in Congress,” Dingethal said.
But no matter where Dingethal attacks, and despite historically low approval ratings for Congress — a point Dingethal hammers — Herrera Beutler is in a safe district.
“It’s not seen as a competitive district at this point; it doesn’t mean it can’t be in the future,” said Carolyn Long, an associate professor of the school of politics, philosophy and public affairs at Washington State University Vancouver.
And there’s precedent that shows despite an unhappiness with Congress, people tend to continue to support the incumbent.
As Dingethal starts to ramp up his efforts — his campaign plans to unveil the majority of advertisements closer to the election — it isn’t lost on him that this might not be his last time running for office.
He garnered 40 percent of the vote in the primary, to Herrera Beutler’s 47 percent.
“He should be laying the groundwork, not only for this election, but future elections,” Long said.
Former Congressman Brian Baird, who represented Southwest Washington for a dozen years, has watched Dingethal’s bid for Congress closely and given the Democratic candidate advice.
Baird narrowly lost his first bid for Congress against conservative Republican Rep. Linda Smith in 1996. Two years later, he defeated Republican state Sen. Don Benton in 1998 and went on to serve for a dozen years.
“In general, people are fed up with Congress, and they aren’t sure what they can do about it — and they may not be sure what one representative can do about it,” Baird said. “That’s an understandable feeling, but having been there, I can tell you, individual representatives do make a difference. It actually matters quite a bit.”
