Herrera goes to Washington DC
| The admission price was at a level usually charged for incumbent members of Congress, but Republicans were pulling out the stops Wednesday for 3rd District House hopeful State Rep. Jaime Herrera.
Herrera was in Washington, D.C. for a lunch co-hosted by former Sen. Slade Gorton and lawyer-lobbyist Tim Peckinpaugh, with Washington’s three incumbent GOP House members as special guests. The tab: $1,000 for political action committees and $250 for individuals. The D.C. fund raiser coincided with launch of a new TV spot by the Herrera campaign, with the candidate saying: “I’m Jaime Herrera. Here in Southwest Washington, we know what they don’t in the other Washington.” Another pricey event is planned for this Washington next month. A “Victory 2010” on Oct. 12 at the Rainier Club will benefit Herrera and Republican John Koster, who is challenging Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., in the 2nd District. Categories of giving for the Roundtable begin at $5,000 and go down to $250. Reps. Dave Reichert, Doc Hastings and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers will also be on hand for the Seattle event. Herrera worked as a political aide in the Bush White House and is a former aide to McMorris-Rodgers. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), was in Camas to raise money for Herrera. The NRCC recently made a $900,000 Portland media buy, presumably with most of the money to promote Herrera. She has benefited from spending by two major Republican-aligned “SuperPACs”, the American Future Fund spending $875,000 and Americans for Prosperity an additional $282,000. The 3rd District, in southwest Washington, is considered a classic “swing” congressional seat. It was carried twice by President George W. Bush, and went narrowly for President Obama in 2008. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., is retiring from Congress after six terms. A Herrera candidacy was boosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee within two hours of Baird’s retirement announcement. The Democrats’ 3rd District nominee, Olympia entrepreneur Denny Heck, seeded his campaign with a six-figure gift earlier this year, and had more in his war chest than Herrera after the August primary. But the 3rd District has since become an example of how, across the country, Republicans are outspending Democrats by a substantial margin. |