Southwest Washington’s former representative in Congress isn’t planning on taking too much of a break from government as Jaime Herrera Beutler has announced she is running for Washington state commissioner of public lands in the 2024 election.
On Oct. 10 Herrera Beutler announced she is seeking the seat that heads the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The Yacolt Republican is seeking the statewide seat after serving six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Washington’s Third Congressional District from 2011 to 2023.
One of Herrera Beutler’s chief concerns with the state’s natural resources is the risk of wildfires, a release from her campaign stated.
“Decades of undermanagement and neglect have turned too many of our public forests into crowded, diseased tinderboxes,” Herrera Beutler said in the release. “Fires now run rampant every summer. They ruin our days with smoke, emit carbon, make home insurance unavailable and housing even more unaffordable. And for those unfortunate enough to live in the path of one of those fires, they can cause unimaginable heartache.”
While in Congress, Herrera Beutler worked for more resources to manage forests to prevent fires, something she said she would do as lands commissioner. Early on in her career she sponsored the Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act, which exempted forest roads from pollution permitting.
Other legislation Herrera Beutler promoted included bills on forest management and wildfire prevention, wildlife habitat conservation and protection of endangered salmon, combatting ocean acidification to reverse the deterioration of shellfish habitat and increasing recreational access to public lands, the release stated.
The former Congresswoman called Washington “America’s most beautiful state” and said Washingtonians had a responsibility to keep it as such.
“I will work with Tribes, scientists, landowners, sportsmen, the forest industry and conservation groups to make sure Washington’s forests and diverse array of species and habitats thrive, and to preserve access to recreational use of public land for its owners – the people of Washington,” Herrera Beutler said.
Her announcement comes less than a year since she was ousted from Congress. In August 2022 she came in third in the primary election for her seat and was eliminated by fellow Republican Joe Kent and the eventual winner of that November’s general election, Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
Kent was one of a number of candidates from Herrera Beutler’s own party who challenged the incumbent after she voted to impeach former president Donald Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol. Kent ran to Herrera Beutler’s right politically, and he received resistance from more moderate voters in November.
A month after the general election results dropped, Herrera Beutler was still making appearances as congresswoman. During the ribbon cutting of new facilities for the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in December, she hadn’t made up her mind on her next move politically and was undecided on a position for which to run.
“I’d be surprised if I didn’t do something again at some point,” Herrera Beutler said at the December event. “When and how … I’m not making any plans.”
Herrera Beutler has been based in Clark County during her entire political career. Prior to Congress, she represented Washington’s 18th Legislative District from 2007 to 2010. Currently she lives on five acres in Yacolt with her husband and three children, the release stated.
“We’re raising our family in the path of the Yacolt Burn, which stood for over a century as the largest forest fire in Washington state history,” Herrera Beutler said in the release. “In just the past decade, that terrible record has already been surpassed three times. I won’t leave my kids a legacy of burning forests and choking smoke. We can and will do better.”
Herrera Beutler serves on the board of the National Kidney Foundation and as a strategic adviser to the Children’s Hospital Association, and recently completed a fellowship-in-residency at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, the release stated.
Herrera Beutler joins a crowded field of would-be commissioners seeking to replace current Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who is running for governor. She joins fellow Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson and Democrats Mona Das, Patrick DePoe, Rebecca Saldana, Dave Upthegrove and Kevin De Wege.
