Young vs. Hesch: Strong contrast in big-money race for 26th

If nothing else, the contest between Jessie Young and Carrie Hesch in the 26th state Legislative district provides a striking contrast.

Young, a firebrand conservative Republican who became something of a local hero when he engineered a lid on Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolls, has been re-elected three times and is seeking a fourth term.

Hesch, a first-time candidate is a single mom, a state corrections worker and Teamster shop steward who has the backing of unions and the Democratic establishment.

the contest has attracted a lot of money. Young has raised $184,000, Hesch $281,501. Third parties have spend $203,000 opposing Young, $77,166 supporting Hesch.

In a district rapidly turning purple both candidates are running toward the middle.

In an interview with The Gateway last week, Young stressed his work on environmental issues, including a pending bill he said would protect Orcas, and a successful one that leverages pollution penalties to finance electric-car charging stations.

“I’ll be that surprises you,” he said.

Young said his firebrand image can overshadow the work he does across the aisle, citing several bills he’s co-sponsored with Democrats.

“If I’m too far right, look at all the traditional people supporting me,” he said. “You might not know that, in the last 20 years, I’m the only Republican that ever broke with my caucus.”

That was over financing low-income housing, he said, a cause for which he has a soft spot.

“I grew up homeless, and I know what it’s like,” he said. “That experience kind of shaped me and formed me.”

Young was homeless when he graduated as valedictorian and top athlete from Wilson High School in 1995, a feat that earned him a profile in The News Tribune back then. His mother was struggling with alcoholism, he said, but has now been sober for 30 years.

Young went on to graduate from the University of Notre Dame and a career as a software engineer and consultant, mostly in California.

Once a Democrat

Young said he was once a staunch Democrat, who voted Al Gore in 2000. But when he returned to Tacoma from California, he was struck by how nothing had changed in his home town.

“After decades of liberal policies, all my high school friends were still poor,” he said. “I thought there must be a better way.”

Appointed to fill a vacant term in 2014, he has been re-elected three times.

In 2018, Young helped engineer a re-financing of the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge that guaranteed bridge tolls would be frozen at the present level until they come off sometime around 2032.

“I promised when I was running for re-election in 2014 that I would stop bridge tolls from increasing, and I kept my promise,” he said. “If it had not been for that, we would be in double-digit tolls by now.”

A rocky tenure

Yet Young’s tenure has been rocky in places. In 2017, complaints from Young’s own staff led the Legislature to limit his access to legislative aides, citing a “patter of hostile and intimidating behavior,” including yelling, swearing and comments demeaning women.

And his zeal for conservative causes — and a tendency toward hyperbole — sometimes lands him in trouble.

Last June, he was criticized for showing up at a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally in Gig Harbor in the company of armed men. He later denied they were with him, although he acknowledged knowing them.

Speaking in a Chamber of Commerce video forum last Thursday, Young said Mayor Kit Kuhn and Police Chief Kelly Busey had both warned him that “antifa was coming” to the June protest, something both the mayor and the chief deny having said. He also told a tall tale about antifa gas cans in the bushes, which Busey said was false. (See accompanying story)

Young said he resents that Democrats have tried to “paint a narrative that I’m some kind of alt-right guy,” especially criticism of his friendship with Rep. Matt Shea (R-Spokane Valley), who has been linked to right-wing militias. He said Shea was involved in the Malheur, OR standoff of 2015 as a negotiator, not a participant, and his support of Shea was based on the belief his Republican colleague did not get due process when he was condemned in a House report as a “domestic terrorist.”

Young said his checklist for the upcoming Legislative session includes a proposal for a statewide moratorium on the Business and Occupation Tax for a year or 18 months, to “jump-start” small businesses hard-hit by the economy.

Young’s largest campaign contributions have come from the state and local Republican committees, which together gave $39,000. Contributions of $2,000 have come from associations representing auto dealers, general contractors, Realtors, truckers, gaming and tribes with casinos, and rental landlords. Corporate contributions came from BSNF Railroad, Delta Dental and Altria, the renamed Phillip Morris tobacco company, which also owns the Ste. Michelle winery.

Challenger optimistic

In three terms, Young has vanquished three challengers. Yet Hesch is optimistic.

“It’s been going really well, I have a wonderful staff and great volunteers,” she said last week. “I think we’ve made great traction and things are looking good.”

Hesch is the recreation and athletics director at the Washington Corrections Center at Purdy, a job she says she first took for its benefits and stability for herself and two daughters. In time, she said, she realized it was more important than she thought.

“Recreation is one thing that helps keep prison systems calm and working smoothly,” she said. “I saw that it gave me the opportunity to lift up women — and men — whose time for recreation is often limited.”

Hesch said her experience as a state employee and union officer has also given her insight into how the state bureaucracy works.

“I’ve already built some great relationships in the state,” she said. “I understand how departments work, how you build bridges between them and harness them to work together.”

Infrastructure a priority

Hesch has a bachelor’s degree in health education from Pacific Lutheran University. She used the stability of her corrections job to return to school and earn a master’s degree in Critical Infrastructure Planning and Management.

That’s given her a unique skill set for the challenges facing the district, she says.

“We’re in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, and we’re also still in a pandemic,” she said. “We’ve got a health system under stress, housing affordability problems and a need to repair infrastructure. With a background in health education and expertise in infrastructure management, I think I have a unique set of qualifications for this job.”

It was her duties as a Teamster leader, Hesch said, that she first began to believe Young need a challenge.

“Whenever we went to Olympia to lobby, he was never available,” she said. “We could always get in to see Michelle Caldier, the other Republican in our district. But Representative Young was always out, even when we’d tried to arrange a meeting weeks in advance.”

In a district turning more and more purple, Hesch said, people are finding Young’s brand of in-your-face conservatism off-putting.

“I think people on the Peninsula are looking more for leadership than partisanship,” she said.

“When you put yourself out there at a peaceful rally of high-school students with armed militia members, you are basically stating who you are. When he goes to maskless rallies for Loren Culp, he’s not supporting or protecting community. And his relationship with Matt Shea is really an overriding factor in his relation to domestic terrorism.”

Hesch thinks she can bring liberals and conservatives together, at least on some issues, like the economy and infrastructure.

“I try not to be divisive,” she said. “I find that it’s very important always to listen first, let people vent. At the end of the conversation, we all want the same things, although we express it differently.”

Hesch has a long to-do list for the Legislature, beginning with infrastructure improvements on the Key Peninsula, where she serves on the Community Services Board, and which she says is drastically underserved.

“Food is limited — there’s one grocery store for 16,000 people — and housing is very, very limited. We have folks that are struggling. And broadband is becoming an issue, because of remote learning for schools.”

Hesch said she had to move from Longbranch, which she loved, to the Artondale area of Gig Harbor, because there was no close medical aid for her daughters, one of whom has special needs.

Hesch has two daughters, Helena, 27, an Auburn police officer, and Raina, 21, who is developmentally disabled and is well-known in the Artondale area as an enthusiastic volunteer.

“Around my neighborhood, she’s better known than me,” Hesch said. “I’m just Raina’s mom.”

Hesch’s largest campaign contributions came from state and local Democrats, who gave a total of $135,000. Individual $2,000 contributions came from unions, including the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Unions (SEIU), the International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU), and the Machinists. Similar contributions came from women’s groups, including Emily’s List, the Win with Women PAC and NARAL; and liberal pacs, such as Justice for All. She also lists contributions from other Democratic candidates, including Derek Kilmer and Denny Heck.

Jesse Young’s web page is: jesseyoung.houserepublicans.wa.gov

Carrie Hesch’s web page is: carriehesch.com

Reach Kerry Webster at editor@gateline.com

This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 5:30 AM.