In 6th district, Ahern and Driscoll agree to disagree

In one of the state’s most contested legislative elections, voters have clear choices.

Republican incumbent Rep. John Ahern and John Driscoll, his Democratic opponent in the 6th Legislative District, disagree on solving the state’s budget crunch, abortion and many of the biggest issues facing the state.

Ahern topped Driscoll’s vote count in the primary 19,315 to 17,902, but Driscoll has a fund-raising advantage. As of the weekend, the state Public Disclosure Commission reported that Driscoll had gathered about $132,000 to Ahern’s $91,000.

The candidates’ differences are most clear on social issues

Ahern strongly opposes gay marriage. “A gay act is an abomination, number one,” Ahern said when asked why he doesn’t support same-sex marriage. “And number two is the fact that it goes against all major religions, Christian, Catholic, Jewish and, also, Islam.”

Driscoll said he would vote to support gay marriage rights. “I’m not convinced that we’re going to get there at any time soon, but I think definitely civil unions and having equal rights and benefits for committed couples of any sex is something I’m very, very supportive of and will stand behind every bit of that,” Driscoll said.

Ahern opposes abortion rights and supports bills that require abortion providers to notify parents of minors and show patients ultrasound images. He supports the death penalty and promotes abstinence-only education in public schools.

Driscoll supports abortion rights, opposes the death penalty and supports sex education that includes discussion of abstinence and birth control.

The candidates also have different thoughts on how to reduce next year’s expected state budget deficit.

Ahern said budget increases should be considered only for departments that focus on public safety, such as prisons. He said he will push for cuts to the departments of Social and Health Services, and Labor and Industries, but that he needs to do more study to suggest specific reductions.

When asked to explain why he would target those departments, Ahern said businesses often complain to him about Labor and Industries – the department charged with overseeing safety and other workplace regulations. State agencies are hurting recruitment of jobs into the state because they are not friendly to business, he said.

“One of the areas that they (business owners) complain about the most is the inspectors,” Ahern said. “They’re arrogant.”

Rather than across-the-board-cuts, Driscoll said he would examine each state program for reductions, though he said he didn’t know which specific departments are likely to yield savings.

“Every one of them, honestly, ought to be scrutinized and audited,” Driscoll said. “Are we getting the job done? Are we doing it efficiently.”

While Ahern says he won’t consider tax increases to balance the budget, Driscoll says he would, but only as a last resort to save vital programs.

“I don’t want to look at any tax increases,” Driscoll said. “I want to look first at how do we use our resources we have right now.”

One area where the two agree is on the state’s standardized test, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Ahern said the state should abandon the test, perhaps in favor of a different one. “The cost is horrendous,” he said.

Driscoll said the state should measure student performance, but not with the WASL. “We can do a lot better testing and assessment with other methods,” he said

Ahern has received some unwanted headlines in the past year. In January, he apologized a day after he asked at a legislative hearing what was to prevent a person from registering as a domestic partner with a dog. He also had a well-publicized run-in in his office with teenagers representing Planned Parenthood after he repeatedly asked, as he recalled it, “How many unborn babies were killed” by the organization.

Ahern said he has no regrets about how he handled the meeting and accuses the teenagers of trying to create controversy.

He said he shouldn’t have used the dog as an example to get across his point during the hearing.

“I got to thinking that in order to keep peace in the family, in the committee, I said, ‘OK, I do have an apology to promote here.’ ”

Ahern says he’s worked hard to represent the district, and he will continue fighting for more fiscal responsibility and tougher laws on criminals, including the elimination of statutes of limitations on child rape cases.

“One of the goals is to (move) the pendulum of justice, which favors so much the criminal,” Ahern said. “I’d like to swing that pendulum back closely to the middle.”

Driscoll said the district is ready for change.

“Having grown up here, I understand our community,” Driscoll said. “I want to make sure that we have a place that maintains our quality of life, and we have good education systems and good jobs,”