Mud-slinging in Olympia

Rep. Jaime Herrera was steamed last week after Rep. Deb Wallace accused her of missing House floor votes for “hours on end” and asking seatmates to cast votes for her. Wallace, a Democrat, unloaded on Herrera, a Republican, shortly after pulling out of the 3rd Congressional District race and just before Herrera flew to Washington, D.C. for a fund-raising event in her own campaign for the 3rd District seat.

In a letter to campaign supporters, Herrera fumed that Wallace “has withdrawn from the race for Congress in the 3rd District but on the way out wants to throw some mud at me.”

“All of the votes I missed took place before this year, and all were excused absences,” Herrera wrote. “I missed a few votes the day my car broke down on I-5 and the others on the day I attended my grandmother’s funeral.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has taken notice of Wallace’s claim and plans to scrutinize Herrera’s voting record more closely.

Kathie Durbin