In Washington State’s 18th legislative district Republican incumbent state representative Jaime Herrera is leaving his seat to run for Congress. That leaves an open seat for Republicans to defend as the GOP seeks to win a majority in the Washington House of Representative in November – where the GOP needs 14 seats to take control of the chamber. In the 18th, Republican are well positioned to hold the seat with 5 candidates running to fill Mr. Herrera’s seat. You’ve got a Mayor Pro-Tem, a county planning commissioner, and educator, a businesswoman, and a 17 year-old high school student.
That’s right – 17 year-old Skyview High School senior Anthony Bittner is one of 5 Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination in the August 17th primary. Apparently Anthony is a planner. He’ll turn the statutorily required 18 years old in April – plenty of time before the June 11 filing deadline to be legally eligible to run and hold office. From the Columbian:
Bittner describes himself as a Republican with independent ideas and conservative values.
“As the son of a small-business owner, I have experienced firsthand the oppressiveness and unfair burden the government forces upon hard-working families,” he said in a statement.
He said he already feels burdened by the state’s budget deficit and would work to reduce government’s intrusion into private lives and the business world.
Other candidates in the race are talking about job creation, Bittner said in an interview, but he disagrees with that approach. “They want to give money to these companies,” he said. “I think we should be taking away the tax burden. I don’t think it should be the government’s job to create jobs. It’s the job of businesses to create jobs.”
He brings a different skill set to the table than any of his opponents – but the question is will anyone take him seriously. Bittner has his Twitter page up already, though with only 12 followers and him not following anybody kind of makes it hard to get the word out. Can’t find his campaign website or a Facebook fan page yet…this guy should be nailing those mediums ahead of his older opponents right?
The 18th is a big district for Republicans to hold onto if they want to make real gains in November – will the Republican nominee have to choose between campaigning and freshman orientation?
Chanelling "The Rock"?
Is the Republican candidate one of the GOP’s rising stars? Will we be reading about Anthony running for Governor of Washington in 10 years? Is that too soon? Of course not – heck at 17 he’s already at least 3 years behind Jonathan Krohn.