WHITE SALMON -- Tao Berman is a 29-year-old professional kayaker who has never held public office, and he's running as a Democrat for a state House seat in the heart of Republican country.
Conventional wisdom and decades of electoral history say Berman probably isn't going to beat a Republican incumbent around here -- especially given that the incumbent is Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside. Newhouse, whose father, Irv Newhouse, served 34 years as a state lawmaker, is working on a legacy of his own, having taken 68 percent and 64 percent of votes in his last two elections.
Berman has heard that stuff, and it reminds him of other things people said he couldn't do. Like surviving a 98-foot waterfall descent in a kayak. He didn't listen to naysayers then and said he has no plans to now.
"If I'd have listened to them, they would have been right," said Berman, whom Sports Illustrated once called the "best-known kayaker on the planet."
That's the attitude he believes will elevate his campaign above the level of quixotic novelty. He's also planning to appeal to moderate Republicans with a business-friendly platform including tax breaks for businesses willing to relocate to the district.
"It's going to create more of a tax base, which is going to help our schools, our hospitals, our local infrastructure," he said. "Ultimately it's going to help everybody in our community."
Aside from that, the kayaking candidate listed health care reform, fiscal responsibility, funding for education, environmental stewardship and support of the local agriculture industry as priorities. Berman said he can be both pro-environment and pro-business, a balance he said he'll have to strike issue by issue.
"I understand that very conservative Republicans probably are not going to vote for me. ... However, I believe there are a lot of Republicans who really share my values," he said.
Berman is the second Democrat from White Salmon to throw his hat into a 15th District state House race in the past month. Internet entrepreneur John Gotts said last month he plans to challenge Granger Republican Bruce Chandler for the district's other seat in the House. The two are friends and may coordinate aspects of their campaigns, Berman said.
No Democrat has been elected to either seat since 1993, and Berman knows he's paddling upstream in trying to change that. But he doesn't care.
"It's so easy to go with the status quo and think it can't change," he said. "And if we keep electing the exact same kind of person, then you're right, it can't change."
Dems back Fearing
Democrats in the U.S. 4th Congressional District on Saturday officially endorsed George Fearing as their candidate for the U.S. House. A Tri-Cities attorney, Fearing launched his campaign more than a year ago in an attempt to oust Republican Doc Hastings of Pasco, who has held the seat since 1994. The 4th District Democrats endorsed Fearing over Don Moody of Wenatchee, the other Democrat in the race.
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