A third-party candidate is running for Congress in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
Martin Hash, who has previously sought seats in both the state and federal House of Representatives, filed a campaign Tuesday with the Clark County Elections Office. He’s running as an independent.
Hash had hinted at a bid for the seat — his Facebook page, “Hash for Congress,” remains active — but Tuesday’s filing marks the first concrete step he’s taken toward launching a campaign. He’s yet to issue a formal announcement. He also never filed with the Federal Elections Commission, which would permit his campaign to raise money.
He’s one of three people seeking to represent Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, is running for a sixth term. Carolyn Long, a Democrat and Washington State University Vancouver professor, is trying for a second time to unseat Herrera Beutler. Both women are heading into the primary with a formidable head start in fundraising: $1.6 million for Long, and $2 million for Herrera Beutler.
Hash has been an on-again, off-again candidate since 2008. In 2016, he ran a campaign as a Democrat to represent Washington’s 17th Legislative District in Olympia. He advanced through the primary but was defeated handily by Rep. Paul Harris, a Republican.
In 2018, Hash ran for U.S. Congress, again as a Democrat. He failed to make it past the primary, earning just shy of 1 percent of the vote.
Hash’s campaign was the major development to come out of the second day of filing week at the Clark County Elections Office, which started 9 a.m. Monday and ends at 5 p.m. Friday. Candidates need to file in order to appear on the Aug. 4 primary ballot, with offices up for election at the federal, state, county and precinct level.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 228 people had filed for various public offices in Clark County.
Another development to come out of the day was Timothy Zahn, a Democrat, who’s now running for the state’s House of Representatives in the 20th Legislative District. Zahn is the sole Democrat seeking to replace retiring Rep. Richard DeBolt. Brian Lange and Peter Abbarno, both Republicans, are also vying for the seat.
Rey Reynolds also filed his campaign Tuesday, which was expected. Reynolds, a Vancouver police officer, is running for the state Senate as a Republican. He’s challenging Democratic Sen. Annette Cleveland in the 49th Legislative District.
At the county level, Matt Little, an independent, filed his previously announced campaign for Clark County Council Position 4. Little is challenging Republican incumbent Gary Medvigy, who filed his re-election campaign Monday.
By the end of Tuesday, 17 people in total had filed to run for the Clark County Charter Review Commission, which has 15 wide-open seats. A handful of the spots already have more than one candidate: Doug Lasher and David Gellaty for at-large Position 1, Kim Harless and Eric Holt for at-large Position 2, Michael Martin and James Conright for District 1 Position 1, Barbara Taft Chen and Chris Goodwin for District 1 Position 3, and Thomas Higdon and Joel Matilla for District 2 Position 1.
To view the full roster of candidates who have declared campaigns with the Clark County Elections Office, visit clark.wa.gov/elections/candidates and click the link “List of Candidates that have Filed for Office.”
