Heck, Herrera trade press releases

Republican congressional candidate Jaime Herrera is touting a new endorsement from a business group today, while the Democrats claim her opponent’s polling suggests he is pulling closer to her.

Herrera, a state representative from Camas, and Olympia Democrat Denny Heck are locked in one of the country’s highest-profile — and expensive — races for U.S. House. The winner will succeed Democrat Brian Baird, who chose not to seek reelection.

Herrera’s latest news release notes she has been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business, a lobby group that represents the interests of small businesses.

The news release touts her 92 percent pro small-business state legislative voting record.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee claims that Heck is now “within the margin of error” of Herrera, according to the Heck campaign’s internal polling. The news release cites a Greenberg Quinlan Rosner survey of 502 likely voters taken Sept. 7-9. It has Herrera leading Heck 47 percent to 44 percent, with a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

In the Aug. 17 primary, Heck outpolled Herrera, but she faced strong Republican contenders in David Hedrick and David Castillo. Polls publicly released since then have shown Herrera leading the race by various margins.