VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Washington’s 3rd Congressional District — the district that includes Vancouver — has been a safe seat for Republicans for the past 8 years.
Not this time around.
The race between incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler and Democratic challenger Carolyn Long has attracted national attention.
Herrera Beutler won the seat in 2010. Before then, a Democrat generally held the seat. Long, a political science professor with no experience running for office before this, is locked in a close battle that may flip the seat.
At a recent candidate forum in Goldendale, the candidates clashed over topics big and small — including taxes and how to pay for health care.
Herrera Beutler supports the Trump tax bill while Long wants to repeal it.
On health care, Long favors a public option.
“The public option is when individuals or organizations can buy insurance directly from government and what that does is provide an alternative to private insurers so people can get healthcare,” Long said. “We really need that in the rural communities where we don’t have many healthcare insurers competing against each other to drive costs down.”
Herrera Beutler believes the government can’t afford that. She’s not a supporter of the Affordable Care Act, but told President Trump she was a “no” vote on his version to replace it.
Instead, she has other ideas.
“I think you break up insurance companies and take away their antitrust exemption, you open up the drug market and allow folks in this state to purchase their safe prescription drugs from Canada,” Herrera Beutler said. “Why are they paying half as much for the same drug?”