Three days before Election Day, 3rd Congressional District challenger Carolyn Long rallied supporters Saturday, telling them about a parade she attended in Morton that she felt showed the difference between her and U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground.
The difference hit Long, the Democrat said, the day after a rainy parade, when she saw pictures of herself and Herrera Beutler, who was on a horse during the event.
“There’s a picture of her on her horse with a perfect wave looking remarkably dry, and a picture of me looking like a drowned rat,” Long said. “I was angry for half a second.”
Then, she said, she realized that the photo of her drenched showed that she was out “working for every single vote.”
Working for every vote was a common message on Saturday, when Long and other Democratic candidates spoke to 150-plus supporters at Long’s campaign office in Vancouver before they went off to knock on doors.
“Tuesday we take our democracy back,” Long said. “We take it back because of the efforts of people like you.”
Saturday’s rally was part of a Get Out the Vote bus tour by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who is up for re-election against challenger Susan Hutchison. Cantwell spoke about the importance of showing up on Election Day, noting that she took office after winning the 2000 Senate race by 2,229 votes.
Cantwell also spoke about health care and said that 38,000 people in Clark County got health care through expansion of the Medicaid program.
“This is about us keeping what has made health care more affordable, and sending a message to the president of the United States: ‘Stop screwing with our health care,’ ” Cantwell said.
Long and Cantwell were joined by a few other local candidates, including Kathy Gillespie, who is running for the 18th Legislative District House seat against Republican Larry Hoff. Gillespie said going out and talking to people face-to-face is the way to win an election, and that it’s not time to slow down with the election just a few days away.
“We have to run past the finish line,” Gillespie said. “You’ll be rewarded Wednesday morning.”
Tanisha Harris — who is running against state Rep. Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver, in the 17th Legislative District — Eric Holt, who is running against Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring for Clark County Council chair, and Barbara Melton, who is running for Clark County clerk against incumbent Clerk Scott Weber, were also at the rally.
State Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, emceed the event.
Also speaking at the event was Jennifer Kampsula Wong, a Vancouver resident, who discussed her family’s history with pre-existing conditions and the importance of keeping those covered. She said she has a family history of colon cancer, and had her first colonoscopy when she was 32. She ended up having precancerous polyps removed.
“Nobody in America should go bankrupt because of an already predetermined, hereditary disease that’s been passed on from generation to generation,” Cantwell said. “That’s not the United States of America. What the United States of America says is that we believe if you cover people, and give them access to health care, it helps drive down everyone’s costs.”
