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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Newcomer faces popular incumbent

When Tim Hattenburg announced his candidacy for state Senate in February, he vowed to knock on 10,000 District 4 door to meet citizens and hear their views.

Eight months and about 9,800 homes later, Hattenburg has endured three dog bites and lost 12 pounds. But has he gained the votes he needs to topple incumbent Bob McCaslin, whom citizens have sent to Olympia for the last 24 years?

Hattenburg, a Democrat, is anxiously awaiting the answer. But while walking through a modest neighborhood in Greenacres Friday, he said, “The nice thing about this is, if you win or lose, you get to talk to a lot of great people.” He recalled a Republican woman one hot summer day who wasn’t going to vote for him, but wasn’t going to let him leave her house without a glass of water either.

Of course, Hattenburg wants to win. He compliments Republican McCaslin for his service to District 4, but says it’s time to elect someone with a fresh perspective.

A few miles away on Saturday, McCaslin talked about his relationship with constituents in his campaign office. He said it’s challenging to balance the needs of the whole state with the specific needs of the people he represents, but his focus is always on the district first. McCaslin noted that in 2003 he thought the state needed the 5-cent gas tax increase, but his constituents were against it so he cast a no vote.

The Fourth District encompasses the Spokane Valley, Mount Spokane and Liberty and Newman lakes. It’s bordered by the Spokane County-Pend Oreille County border to the north, the Idaho state line to the east, Saltese Lake Road to the south and U.S. Highway 2 to the west.

The conservative district is home to farmers, laborers, small-business owners, and white-collar workers and families, who relish their suburban – and in some parts rural – lifestyle. A Democrat hasn’t represented the district since the early 1990s.

Some voters think this could be the year to break the Republicans’ hold on District 4. Before retiring in 1993, Hattenburg was a well-known and well-liked teacher in the Central Valley School District. While knocking on doors, he often meets former students or their families who wish him well. He’s a fiscal conservative who shares many of the fundamental beliefs of his neighbors.

“You’re him? You’re the man!” said Vickie Walsh, 46, after Hattenburg approached her house Friday. She then introduced Hattenburg to her mother as “our next state senator.”

“It’s time for a change,” Walsh said.

But McCaslin said his experience is a valuable asset. He chairs the Senate judiciary committee and serves on the government operations and elections committee, and the technology and communications committee. McCaslin lost the naiveté of a freshman senator long ago.

“Money is always the issue up there, and new people come in who want a piece of the pie,” McCaslin said. “There’s only so much pie.”

During a candidates’ forum last week, Hattenburg and McCaslin agreed on many issues. Both say the business and occupation tax is unfair because it taxes businesses on their gross income, not on their net profits. They support offering businesses tax incentives to locate in Washington state, but Hattenburg often makes a point to say those companies should be required to keep jobs here instead of sending them overseas. Neither candidate supports replacing sales and property taxes with a state income tax.

Then, there are the differences.

McCaslin supports tort reform. He has fought for legislation to limit the amount of jury awards in medical malpractice cases because he says the high payouts are causing insurance companies to raise their rates – driving doctors out of practice and limiting businesses’ ability to provide employees with health care coverage.

Hattenburg says reducing the cost of health care will be a top priority for him because it’s a big concern for many of the people he’s talked to while doorbelling, but caps on malpractice awards can’t be the only answer. He wants small businesses to be able to pool together to get lower rates from health insurance companies and he believes individuals and the state as a whole should be able to buy prescription drugs from Canada, where medicine often is less expensive.

McCaslin supports tax foe Tim Eyman’s Initiative 892, which would expand gambling in nontribal businesses, because it would “level the playing field between tribal and nontribal gaming facilities,” he wrote recently. “Currently, tribal gaming facilities are making hundreds of millions of tax exempt dollars in revenue.”

A fee on electronic slot machines would be used to lower taxes, but after talking to a member of the state’s gambling commission, Hattenburg thinks the price of I-892 is too high. It would require 200 new state employees to oversee it and could increase the social problems associated with gambling, he said.

On education, McCaslin thinks schools should focus on reading, writing, math, science, computer science, history, government and foreign language. Other subjects, such as music and art, should be funded through special levies in each district.

Hattenburg feels the biggest problem facing schools, other than funding, is preparing students for the Washington state Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL test. He wants to catch kids who are struggling by copying successful programs that target math and reading skills early.

McCaslin contended the differences between the two men would become more apparent if Hattenburg were elected, because it’s difficult for legislators to resist voting the party line once they get to Olympia.

“The difference comes when they go to the Legislature because then they’re with their peers and there’s peer pressure,” McCaslin said.

But if people aren’t happy with the current state of the state, why should they vote for an incumbent? McCaslin blamed the lack of change on the party balance in the Legislature. McCaslin serves in the Republican-controlled Senate, but the Democrat-led House of Representatives often kills the conservative bills he supports, he said.

McCaslin has a reputation as a joker in the Senate. When Sen. Bob Oke thanked his fellow senators for their support during a surgery he had this year, McCaslin stood up and told the group he’d be happy to talk about all his operations, but the session was only 60 days long.

If re-elected, McCaslin’s time in office would about equal the years he spent working at Kaiser Aluminum and as a real estate agent before entering politics. That’s despite the fact McCaslin supported term limits when he first ran in 1980.

“If I said that, I changed my mind,” McCaslin said Saturday. “I think we all have the right to change our minds.”

Hattenburg said his effort this year to talk with citizens has taught him about the specific concerns District 4 is facing. His strong leadership and communication skills and his moderate stance on issues would help him bridge gaps between the parties, he said. And the effort to communicate with constituents wouldn’t fade if he were elected, he said.

“I would talk to people every day,” Hattenburg said at the candidates’ forum. “When you want to get an issue across, you need to educate the public why that happened so they can understand.”