Jaime Herrera Beutler

Herrera moved back to the 18th Legislative District to run for state representative (map), and was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives in 2007 to replace former Rep. Richard Curtis, who resigned amid a sex scandal.[8] She went on to win the election to retain her seat in 2008 with 60% of the vote.[9]

Herrera was elected as Assistant Floor Leader, the youngest member of her party's leadership in the State House. Her first sponsored bill gave tax relief to business owners serving in the military. It was signed into law by Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire on March 27, 2008.[10]

During her time in the House, Herrera also opposed Senate Bill 5967, which mandated equal treatment of the sexes in community athletic programs run by cities, school districts, and private leagues.[11]

• Health Care and Wellness
• Human Services
• Transportation[12]

Herrera ran for Washington's 3rd congressional district, which was an open seat of retiring Democratic incumbent Brian Baird. Herrera advanced to the general election with 28% of the vote, well ahead of fellow Republican candidates David Hedrick and David Castillo. State Representative Denny Heck, a Democrat, ranked first with 31% of the vote.[13][14][15]

Herrera raised over $1.5 million in contributions. 62% of this came from individual contributors; 35%, from political action committees. The biggest single contributor was construction and mining contractor Kiewit Corporation, which gave her campaign over $16,000.[16]

During the campaign, she received support from state Republican leaders U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton.[6] The Columbian called her "a rising star in the Republican Party".[6] In October, Herrera was named one of Time Magazine's 40 under 40: "The Washington Republican survived a Tea Party challenge to win the GOP primary in the Evergreen State's 3rd Congressional District. Now Herrera, a 31-year-old Latina and former congressional staffer, has successfully re-cast herself as the outsider as she takes on a longtime Democratic pol in November."[17]

In the November general election, Herrera defeated Heck 53%–47%.[18] She won five of the district's six counties.[19] Heck would later be elected representing Washington's 10th congressional district, serving alongside Herrera.[20]

On December 22, 2010, she announced that she had taken her husband's name and would thenceforth call herself Jaime Herrera Beutler.[1]

Herrera Beutler announced her intention to seek re-election in January 2012. She quickly outraised her two opponents, Democrat Jon Haugen, and Independent Norma Jean Stevens. She won the open primary with 61% of the vote.[21] By the end of the campaign, she had raised more than $1.5 million, to Haugen's $10,000.[22] In the November general election, she defeated Haugen 60%–40%.[23]

Herrera Beutler ran for reelection in 2014. She faced Republican challenger Michael Delavar and Democratic challenger Bob Dingethal.[24][25] Dingethal and Herrera Beutler advanced to the general election, where Herrera Beutler defeated Dingethal, 60% to 40%.[26]

In the nonpartisan blanket primary, Herrera Beutler finished first with 55.4% of the vote; Democrat Jim Moeller finished second with 24.4%. In the general election, Herrera Beutler won with 62% of the vote to Moeller's 38%.

In the nonpartisan blanket primary, Herrera Beutler finished first with 40.9% of the vote; Democrat Carolyn Long, a political-science professor at Washington State University's Vancouver campus, finished second with 36.6%. Combined, the Democrats in the primary received just over 50 percent of the vote.[27] In the general election, she defeated Carolyn Long with 52 percent of the vote, the closest race since her initial bid for the seat. She is now one of only two Republicans, the other being Don Young of Alaska, representing a seat west of the Cascades.

Hererra Beutler, speaking on the House floor in November 2012

In March 2011, Herrera Beutler introduced her first bill as a member of Congress. The "Savings Start With Us" Act would reduce the salaries of Members of Congress, the President and the Vice President of the United States by 10%.[7]

After the birth of her daughter Abigail (who was diagnosed with Potter's syndrome) in July 2013, Herrera Beutler announced that she would still be active in the house for key votes, but would dedicate a good deal of time to the care of her daughter.[28][29][30]

In June 2014, Herrera Beutler proposed the Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act, would help coordinate care for children met with medical complexities in Medicaid.[31] The bill was passed by a committee but did not get a vote on the House floor.[32]

Herrera Beutler is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership[33][34] and the Congressional Western Caucus.[35]

On December 18, 2019, Herrera Beutler voted against both articles of impeachment against President Trump, along with all other voting Republicans. [36]

• United States House Committee on Appropriations
• House Committee on Small Business (112th and the 113th[37] Congresses)
  • United States House Small Business Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology
  • United States House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations
• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (112th, but NOT in the 113th[37] Congress)
  • United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Vice Chair
• Congressional Hispanic Conference
• Republican Study Committee
• Republican Main Street Partnership

In 2019, Herrera Beutler was given the 2019 "Congressional Biosecurity Champion Award" from the Alliance for Biosecurity, a consortium of companies that develop products to respond to national security threats. The award is given once a year to a Member of Congress who works to improve the country's ability to prevent and combat major biosecurity threats to national security.[41]

In April 2011, she voted for Congressman Paul Ryan's budget, which would have lowered taxes for the highest earners from 35% to 25% and also changed Medicare to be a voucher-system.[42]

In December 2019, she voted against impeaching President Trump, saying that there was inadequate proof that he engaged in obstruction of justice and abuse of power.[43][44]

Herrera Beutler favors repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare).[45] In March 2017, she said that she intended to vote against the American Health Care Act, the GOP's replacement plan for Obamacare, because of its adverse effects on children who depend on Medicaid.[46]

After President Trump implemented an executive order banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Herrera Beutler, the Seattle Times reported in January 2017 that she "was vaguely critical of the order, without saying she opposed it or calling for any specific changes."[47]

Herrera Beutler opposes same-sex marriage.[45][48]

In November 2013, Herrera Beutler co-sponsored the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would address a rise in military sexual assaults. Under the proposed law, the power to evaluate and respond to such incidents would be taken away from the military chain of command. "Despite efforts by military leadership to address this serious issue, the problem remains," she said in a news release. "A Defense Department report found that fewer than one in six cases were being reported to authorities, often due to fear of retaliation by superiors. A quarter of the time, the perpetrators of these crimes were in the victims' direct chain of command."[49]

In December 2017, President Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2018, which included part of Herrera Beutler's and Suzan DelBene's (WA-01) Child Abuse Accountability Enhancement Act (H.R. 1103). The act closed a legal loophole that denied justice to some survivors of child abuse.[50]