Money vs. history in 14th District race

Democrat Vickie Ybarra has money and momentum on her side; Republican Norm Johnson has political geography and influential backers.

Neither had planned to run for the state House this year, but the surprise resignation of veteran Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, in May presented a rare open seat in the 14th District. Now, with the six-candidate primary field narrowed to two, both state parties are anxiously waiting for the results of their Nov. 4 showdown.

It's been 16 years since the upper Yakima Valley put a Democrat in the state Legislature, but Ybarra's fundraising lead has allowed her to be the more visible candidate. Her signs are sprinkled all over town, her Web site has been up for months, and pretty soon you'll see her TV ads.

Though Johnson has criticized her $105,000 fundraising total for being inflated by outsiders -- $34,000 has come from the state Democratic Party -- Ybarra is quick to point out she has more local donors than Johnson.

"Money is support," she said. "It's unfortunate that it costs so much to get our message out, but money is support."

Though Johnson has tapped less money -- $64,000, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission -- he has support from some of the most influential political leaders in the Yakima area. State Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, and state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, have campaigned for him. And the patriarch of the local Republican establishment, former state Sen. Alex Deccio, is a longtime friend and supporter. Ditto Yakima Mayor Dave Edler.

"I seek out their counsel a lot," Johnson said.

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Manning the Republican booth at the Central Washington State Fair earlier this month, Johnson can't go five minutes without seeing an old friend. Born and raised in Toppenish, the 70-year-old former school teacher and administrator has been in public life as a mayor and councilman up and down the Valley for three decades. Since 2005, he has served on the Yakima City Council.

"You've been elected in Toppenish and Yakima, so you know the whole area," Emily Medeiros of Yakima told Johnson as she stopped by the booth. "And you can bring that experience to Olympia."

Medeiros, the 53-year-old program services director of the Yakima Valley Community Foundation, didn't mention that Johnson has also served as a City Council member and mayor of Mabton. She went on to praise Johnson as a coalition builder.

"Knowing Norm like I do, I think he represents the entire community, not just Republicans," she said. "I've seen him reach across the aisle."

A self-described "conservative-moderate," Johnson has never held a partisan office. And he's not preaching partisanship in this race, promising instead to work with the majority Democrats who control the House.

"It's more how you reach across the aisle," Johnson said. "Alex Deccio told me one time, you don't have to compromise your principles (to work with the other side)."

That's not just a political style; in Washington, it's a matter of necessity, Johnson said. Even if Republican Dino Rossi unseats Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire this November, both houses of the Legislature will be ruled by Democrats again next year.

"Republicans can't afford not to work across the aisle," Johnson said.

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Ybarra, 48, was in her element during a campaign stop earlier this week at Parkside Nursing Care Center in Union Gap. At lunchtime she held spoons and milk glasses for an elderly woman, who never said a word while Ybarra helped her eat. Near the end of the hour, the woman reached across the table and took Ybarra's hand. They stayed that way for about a minute.

Ybarra, who was there shadowing a long-term-care nurse as part of Service Employees International Union "Walk a Day in My Shoes" campaign program, said the woman reminded her of her own grandmother, who died last year.

"She spent her last few days in a nursing home," Ybarra said.

Best known locally as president of the Yakima school board, Ybarra has spent her career in health care. She was born in Puyallup and grew up in Auburn. After graduating from the University of Washington with a nursing degree in 1989, she went to work as a nurse for the Yakima Health District. She kept her nursing registration current even as she moved up to director of planning and development for the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic.

That experience was evident to Misha Werschkul, the Seattle-based SEIU employee who has coordinated several care center visits for candidates the union endorses. Ybarra's easy manner with the residents at Parkside stood out compared to the other candidates she's seen, Werschkul said.

"A lot of people want to stay back. ... A lot of folks in Olympia don't have that hands-on experience she has," Werschkul said.

Ybarra took the opportunity to stress the state's duty to care for its most vulnerable, even in tough economic times. The quality of life for people like the care center's residents is not a Democrat-Republican issue but something everyone can agree on, said Ybarra, a self-described "moderate Democrat."

It's that sort of practical approach that she said has allowed her to build a broad coalition of support, including an endorsement from former Yakima Mayor Mary Place, a Republican.

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Both candidates have made their pitch for votes as moderates, but there are policy differences between Johnson and Ybarra.

Ybarra, who said she would seek a spot on the House Health Care Committee if elected, is open to government programs that would increase access to health care coverage. At a July forum held in Yakima by the Healthy Washington Coalition, the crowd overwhelmingly expressed support for making health coverage for all state residents a top priority.

Though she doesn't think the political climate will allow a single-payer, government-run health system, Ybarra says she isn't ideologically opposed to it.

"The priority for me is access to affordable, high-quality health care," she said.

Johnson, on the other hand, is fundamentally opposed to more government intervention in health care. The best way to improve access and reduce cost, he said, is to reduce regulation and offer cheaper, less comprehensive coverage.

"We've got to let insurance companies compete. ... And people should be able to choose what kind of health coverage they have," Johnson said.

Though immigration is generally viewed as a federal issue, it has emerged in the 14th District campaign.

Johnson has signed a petition in support of Initiative 409, which is being proposed by to crack down on undocumented immigrants by limiting access to state programs. The only reservation he had about doing so was that the initiative would put more of the onus on employers who hire undocumented workers, he said.

Ybarra, on the other hand, has emphasized the migrant work force's economic value to Central Washington. Any state action on immigration must take that into consideration, she said.

The two candidates also differ on how the 14th District's newest state representative can best serve constituents, given a projected $3.2 billion shortfall in the state budget.

Ybarra argues that electing a Democrat would give Yakima a seat at the table with Olympia's decision-making party. In that role, she said, she could keep west side lawmakers from forgetting about Central Washington's needs.

"In our part of the state we need more help with economic development," she said. "We need help to diversify our industry."

But Johnson says a Republican can provide just as strong leadership by offering a counterpoint to the prevailing Democratic thinking in Olympia.

"I guess I'm from the old school," he said. "I don't think it's healthy for any one party to have complete control."

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Both campaigns claimed victory in the Aug. 19 primary.

Ybarra, the lone Democrat in the race, finished first among six candidates and took 30 percent of the overall vote. But the value of that win was sapped somewhat, considering five Republicans split 70 percent of the vote, a potent reminder of the district's partisan bent. Johnson took 22 percent.

Both candidates came out of the primary saying plenty of work remained ahead. For Johnson, that's meant more phone calls and doorbelling. For Ybarra, it's involved shoring up a well-staffed, coordinated campaign.

She, too, has continued doorbelling neighborhoods. And she's had help from both the Democratic-funded Latino Vote Project and her own team of volunteers. On Oct. 18, she'll get more help from the Washington Bus organization, a Seattle-based group that's campaigning for selected Democrats statewide. Fifty volunteers will ride a bus to Yakima for the event, where Ybarra hopes to pair each of them with a local volunteer to canvass neighborhoods.

By all accounts, Ybarra's is a better-organized, more-sophisticated campaign than Democrats have run in the 14th District. State party leaders for the first time have invested substantial time and money in this part of Central Washington.

But until the numbers start changing at the polls, Central Washington will always be considered Republican territory. The GOP has held all three 14th District seats in the state Legislature for a decade and a half. And its established leaders -- from Deccio to King and Ross -- are squarely behind Johnson.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

* Norm Johnson and Vickie Ybarra will speak Oct. 20 at a Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce-sponsored candidate forum. The event begins at 6 p.m. at The Seasons, 101 N. Naches Ave. Yakima County commissioner candidates Jesse Farias, a Democrat from Wapato, and Republican Kevin Bouchey of Toppenish will also be there, as will 14th District state Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, and Democratic challenger Chris Ramirez of Yakima.

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