The race for the state Senate seat in the 18th Legislative District pits a former truck driver, familiar with sitting in stalled traffic on the Interstate 5 Bridge, against the lawmaker instrumental in killing the Columbia River Crossing that would have eased congestion.
Political newcomer Eric Holt, a Democrat, is vying to unseat Republican Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center. The 18th District encompasses much of the area north and east of Vancouver.
Holt told The Columbian’s Editorial Board on Tuesday that had the Columbia River Crossing materialized, people from Portland would visit Vancouver’s restaurants and gems such as Kiggins Theatre.
Instead, a lot of people don’t visit Vancouver because they don’t like the idea of crossing the bridge, he said.
Rivers said she’s been engaged in meetings with other Southwest Washington legislators about how to move forward with replacing the bridge, one span of which will be 100 years old next year.
Although the meetings have been closed, Rivers said the delegation is successfully moving past years of divisive feelings. She said she’s confident that this upcoming legislative session, there will be “a pathway” or some kind of structure the delegation can agree on to end the partisan gridlock over the issue.
“We had to work through some interpersonal issues,” Rivers told The Columbian after the editorial meeting.
Rivers, who was against the idea of having light rail on the bridge, pointed out that the Oregon Legislature could pass a transportation package next year, giving hope that conversations about replacing the bridge could be resurrected.
Holt, a Democrat who initially supported Sen. Bernie Sanders for president but now backs Hillary Clinton, was a Teamsters member and driver before becoming a regional safety coordinator for Gilmour and Company.
Holt was inspired to run as a means to give back to the community, he said. The goal of a citizen legislator, he told the Editorial Board, is to ensure that people with real-life experience are serving in Olympia. Holt said, if elected, he would support the idea of term limits.
Rivers has served four years in the Senate and two years in the House of Representatives. During that time she has been at the center of several high-profile issues. She was instrumental in aligning the recreational and medical marijuana markets.
She is a member of a task force charged with finding solutions for what the Supreme Court declared is inadequate funding of the state’s public schools. In the previous session, lawmakers passed what was dubbed “a plan for a plan,” which Rivers said would help legislators determine how different school districts use levy money and pinpoint the size of the funding crisis.
This coming legislative session, Rivers said, she’s “cautiously optimistic” legislators will fulfill the court’s order to fully fund basic education.
Rivers is seeking re-election, she said, because there is more work she wants to see done.
“Every single day, the first thought that enters my mind is, ‘Who am I going to help this morning?’” Rivers told the Editorial Board.
Rivers also declined to comment on how she felt about the decision of Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, not to seek re-election. In 2013, Benton and Rivers made headlines for a high-profile spat. Although they are both Republicans, and both opposed the Columbia River Crossing, their relationship never appeared to recover.
Earlier this year, the leadership of the Clark County Republican Party chose not to endorse Rivers’ re-election bid.
“It’s disappointing that party leadership took that tack, but the outpouring of support from Republicans in my district has been phenomenal — so it’s all good,” Rivers said.
