Race on for 3rd District

The race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is on.

Democratic candidate Carolyn Long, a longtime political science professor at Washington State University Vancouver running on a “People Over Politics – Taking Washington Back From D.C.” campaign slogan, will face Republican incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the November general election.

The two women secured the most votes in Tuesday’s “top two” primary election. As of this paper’s deadline Wednesday afternoon, Long had 41 percent of the Clark County vote and 37 percent of the district vote while Herrera Beutler garnered 38 percent of the votes in Clark County and 41 percent districtwide.

Democratic challengers Dorothy Gasque and David McDevitt had 4.6 percent and 8.1 percent of the districtwide votes, while Camas resident Earl Bowerman, a far-right Republican running as a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, secured 5.3 percent of the districtwide vote.

At a fundraiser at Washougal’s 54-40 Brewery, Long attracted several Camas andWashougal supporters, including former Washougal City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Joyce Lindsay, who said she liked Long’s message and thought the professor would make a “stellar congresswoman.”

Long told The Post-Record in May she had been talking to voters throughout the 3rd District for several months and saw common themes in every part of the district.

“People have lost their appetite for this deep polarization,” Long said in May. “They see that Congress is so tribal, nothing is getting done.”

Long and Herrera Beutler will face off in the Nov. 6, 2018 General Election. The deadline to update existing registration, register online or register by mail is Oct. 8. Ballots will be mailed Oct. 19. The deadline for new Washington voters to register in person is Oct. 29.

Despite attempts by state officials to make voting as simple as possible in the Aug. 7 Primary Election by providing pre-paid postage on ballots, only 25.9 percent of the county’s 279,251 eligible voters returned their ballots by Tuesday’s deadline. To see all Clark County and statewide results from the primary election, visit results.vote.wa.gov/results/current/clark/.