Carolyn Long talks with citizens of the greater Lewis County during a town hall meeting at the Veterans Memorial Museum last September.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler addresses a crowd at her in-person town hall in January 2017.
Following a record-breaking fundraising haul that nearly tripled that of her opponent, Carolyn Long has left little doubt that she has Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, in the fight of her political life.
“I’m feeling pretty confident that we’ve had some nice momentum,” said Long, a Washington State University, Vancouver professor. “You see it reflected in our fundraising.”
In reports filed Oct. 15, Long reported raising $1.75 million in the third quarter of this year. According to her campaign, that’s more than any candidate in the district has ever amassed over a two-year campaign cycle. Meanwhile, Herrera Beutler brought in $600,000 over that time.
Long’s massive funding surge has shifted a cash edge that once belonged to the incumbent. In mid-July, Herrera Beutler had more than $1 million on hand to Long’s $111,000. Now, Long has $1,000,000 to spend on the final stages of the campaign, while Herrera Beutler is down to $800,000 in the bank. Both candidates spent more than $700,000 in the third quarter.
Despite the sudden swing, the incumbent maintains that her cash deficit is not unexpected.
“Obviously liberal folks from around the state and the nation are going to rally around the Democrat,” Herrera Beutler said. “I wasn’t necessarily surprised. We’re seeing this happen all around the county. It’s less about her and me than liberals nationally who don’t like what’s happening. … We have the resources we need to win.”
That’s far afield from what the Republican’s campaign said in August, after Long made a strong showing in the primary election. At that point, Herrera Beutler spokeswoman Angeline Riesterer touted the fundraising edge — that has since been erased — to dismiss Long’s chances.
“It’s important to point out that Carolyn Long spent her entire campaign treasure chest to win a hotly contested primary, while Jaime saved all of her resources for the general election,” she said in an emailed statement at the time.
Meanwhile, Long’s campaign has released a poll that shows the Democrat holding a 45-43 percent advantage among likely voters. With a margin of error of about 5 percent, the results put the race at a virtual tie. Long touted the poll Wednesday while acknowledging the race is anyone’s guess.
“We’re going to be running hard until the end,” she said. “It’s going to be an extremely close race, because it is a Republican-leaning district, so I’m certainly not overconfident.”
Herrera Beutler’s campaign has questioned the accuracy of that poll, pointing to New York Times polling that gives the incumbent a 49-40 edge.
“I give very little credence to my opponent’s internal poll,” Herrera Beutler said. “I’m not going to release my internal polls, but they don’t have me down, I’ll say that.”
Amid the combat over fundraising and polling, the pair have also found time to throw down over policy as well. The nastiest argument has centered around Medicare for All, a government-run healthcare plan to which Herrera Beutler has tried to tie Long — over the Democrat’s repeated insistence that she doesn’t support it.
A Daily News story in June said Long would support the bill if Democrats took the House, but said her focus would be a more incremental one, since the bill would be unlikely to pass in the current Congress. In April, she appeared on a podcast and said she would “absolutely” support a “Medicare for All type program” eventually — but that it was unlikely within the current political climate and needed to be paid for. Also in April, she said “at some point we have to start talking” about government-run healthcare.
Using those examples, Herrera Beutler has repeatedly attacked Long, saying she supports a government takeover of healthcare that would devastate the system.
“She’s running from what she’s been telling people,” Herrera Beutler said. “She’s denying it and denying it. … Either she needs to own it and say she’s changing her position or she needs to not mislead us.”
Long called the attacks “absolutely duplicitous,” saying her opponent has taken a few moments out of context where she was trying to express her support for making sure everyone has access to healthcare. She said her position has been consistent, calling for reforms to the Affordable Care Act and the creation of a public option — a government healthcare agency that would compete with private companies. She noted that she’s held that position repeatedly across 42 town halls, events that Herrera Beutler has mostly avoided holding herself.
“I would invite Herrera Beutler to review the tape she has of my town halls to see what my response is,” she said. “It’s incredibly important that challengers and also incumbents put themselves out there in front of the voters, face their tough questions and answer them to the best of their ability.”
