State rep hopefuls respond to questions at Colfax

The three candidates on the primary ballot for state representative for the Ninth District answered a variety of questions during a two-hour forum at the library in Colfax Friday evening. The forum was sponsored by the Pullman League of Women Voters with Mary Collins acting as moderator.

The Friday night session drew a small crowd with less than 20 people seated in the audience.

Questions submitted by audience members covered a wide range of topics on both the state and national levels.

Rep. Mary Dye of Pomeroy, who has held office for 14 months, and challengers Jennifer Goulet, Pasco Democrat, and Hailey Roemer, Pullman Republican, participated.

In response to a question about whether or not they would support their party’s nominee for the presidential race, Dye said she would support the Republican nominee, but added she viewed Donald Trump as a populist, and she considered herself a traditionalist.

Goulet, who was a supporter of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary campaign, said she was having trouble convincing herself to support Clinton. She said she planned to vote for the Democratic nominee to stop Trump.

Roemer, who several times described herself as “in the middle” between Dye and Goulet, said she, as a young woman, felt Trump targeted “my demographic.”

Contrasting answers also surfaced in the questions about transgender access to restrooms. Rep. Dye, who noted the transgender access did not come from a legislative body, opposed the change. She said she felt the privacy of young girls needed to be protected.

Goulet said she felt transgender people are the ones who needed to be protected.

Roemer said she also opposed the transgender access change.

Responses also differed on campaign funding. Goulet, who noted she had received a donation from a union, said she planned to finance her campaign with small donations in the same mode as the Sanders campaign.

Dye, who has received donations from corporations and lobby groups, pointed out the ongoing stack of restrictions and regulations placed on corporations and business groups is probably part of the reason they donate to legislative campaigns.

Roemer, who has the least campaign funds to date, said she did not plan to spend much on her campaign.

The trio was asked if they felt public funds should be used to support Planned Parenthood, a topic related to Dye’s reported inquiry to a Pullman student group when she asked them, during their tour of the capital, if they were virgins.

Dye at the forum Friday said Planned Parenthood representatives in Olympia were not her “favorite group of people.” She added she has felt they presented themselves in an ingenuous way.

Goulet said she felt people in the state needed to have access to birth control and a comprehensive education on birth control. She said she considered Planned Parenthood a service to the community.

Roemer said she looked upon Planned Parenthood as a health service and added, if elected, she would be looking at ways to provide all health services in the state.

One question which drew the same response from all three candidates was a “yes” to a query about whether they were in favor of keeping the dams on the Lower Snake River.

Deadline for return of primary ballots is Aug. 2.