Days ahead of the August primary, Republican candidates for federal, state and local public offices gathered in Adna to make their final pitch to voters.
The event, organized by Adna store owner Jim Smith, drew roughly two dozen attendees to Sandrini Construction. Smith, who previously organized a campaign event for gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert in Adna, said he anticipated hosting a similar event before the general election this November.
Saturday’s event featured Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) candidates, legislators, Congressional candidate Joe Kent, Senatorial candidate Raul Garcia and state GOP Chair and state Rep. Jim Walsh, among others.
In races with more than two candidates, the primary will decide which two candidates advance to the general election. The Lewis County Auditor’s Office has mailed 54,982 ballots to registered voters.
If a voter doesn’t receive their ballot, the auditor’s office
recommends visiting votewa.gov and selecting “my ballot,” calling 360-740-1278 or visiting 351 NW North St., Chehalis. If a registered voter has moved, they can update their registration with either of the options.
Ballot boxes are open 24 hours a day beginning 20 days before each election. They close promptly at 8 p.m. on election day.
Kent — who is making a second run at representing Southwest Washington in Congress — called the replacement of Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee a “really cute bait and switch.”
“If Biden was so bad, why did they vote for all of his policies?” Kent said. “That is a great question to ask every single elected Democrat why they supported these destructive policies.
Following the primary, Walsh and Kent said the party will need to further unify around Republican candidates.
“In politics, there is no second place,” Walsh said. “We have to win to continue the momentum we’ve started with the initiatives.”
Walsh, who recently attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, told rally attendees that the push for six conservative Initiatives to the Legislature had sparked intrigue from Republican officials across the country who sought to replicate the process in their states.
The convention, he said, also demonstrated a “spirit of unity” in the Republican party.
“At that convention, there was a complete sense of unity and support for Donald Trump,” Walsh said. “Because the option — whether it’s Joe Biden or cackling Kamala or whoever else — the option is so bad.”
Walsh praised three conservative initiatives passed during the legislative session — a parental bill of rights, eased restrictions on police pursuits and a ban on a state income tax — and praised four additional initiatives that will appear on the November ballot as an opportunity for more action.
The proposals, he said, would “set the frame” for voters, and boost support for Republicans throughout the state. In the speech, Walsh noted that the initiatives, not the presidential race, will appear at the top of the ballot.
“We’ve got the ideas, we’ve got the bills, we’ve got the initiatives that will make life a little less expensive, that will make neighborhoods and streets a little safer, and that will make our schools more accountable, and I believe more successful in the end with educating kids,” Walsh said. “But what we need is more seats in the legislature, more seats in Congress, and new leadership at the top of the executive branch, a new President in D.C. … and a new governor here in Olympia.”
During his speech, Walsh touched on many familiar attack lines against Democrats, including crime and a high cost of living.
“We’ve priced regular people out of a regular life here in Washington,” Walsh said. “And you can listen to them spin and stammer and stutter and make excuses, but it’s by bad law. It’s by bad policy that we’ve done this.”
