Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray appeared in Vancouver on Friday, rallying the party faithful at a get-out-the-vote event ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Inslee told his fellow Democrats that he’s Tim Probst’s No. 1 fan. All three are on Tuesday’s ballot.
Probst is locked in a tight battle with Rep. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, for the 17th Legislative District Senate seat, and the outcome could decide which party holds the majority for the next two years. Wilson won the primary by 50 votes.
“We’re committed to giving our children a better educational opportunity — all of our children, not just those who might get a post-doctorate degree in chemistry, but all of our children,” Inslee told the crowd at the Clark County Democrats’ campaign office.
Probst is the best suited to help children “who were born (without) a silver spoon in their mouths,” Inslee said.
Inslee touted one of Probst’s proudest achievements while serving in the state House, which was the creation of Opportunity Scholarships to help students pay for college. More than 10,000 scholarships have been awarded.
Inslee also encouraged the crowd to remind voters when they are knocking on the doors and making calls that the state needs people who will unite communities.
“We need uniters, not dividers, like this Wilson,” Inslee said.
Probst also spoke at the event, saying it was time to get “nasty politics” out of the campaign cycle, pointing to attack advertisements that have been directed toward him.
“It’s disgusting, and we have to defeat that just to make a statement about negative politics,” Probst said, adding that he would work to overturn the Citizens United decision about campaign spending and ensure equal-pay-for-equal-work legislation is passed.
Murray urged the Democrats to remember their work is not done after Tuesday.
“We have to work hard. We have to work hard so we can win,” Murray said. “But when this election is over, we are not done. Our country needs us to heal. It has been a terrible, hard election cycle. It’s been divisive, the rhetoric has been awful. … We have to come together as a country.”
Bill Bryant, the Republican candidate for governor, made a similar visit to Clark County earlier this week.
