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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   The candidates at a glance Linda Haddon Residence: Oak Harbor Age: 59 Party: Republican Experience: Life celebrant; Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce; Island County Planning Commission, 1993-95; Member, task force to protect Whidbey Naval Air Station from closure. Web site: www.lindahaddon.com Sarah Hart Residence: Oak Harbor Age: 30 Party: America's Third Party Experience: Substitute teacher, Oak Harbor School District; Web site designer; Bachelor of Arts, education, Western Washington University. Web site: www.americasthirdparty.com Mary Margaret Haugen Residence: Camano Island Age: 67 Party: Democratic Experience: State Senate, 1995-present; chairwoman, Senate Transportation Committee; House of Representatives, 1983-95; Stanwood school board; former owner-operator of beauty salon; vocational training. Web site: www.marymargarethaugen.com   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 Will ferry troubles sway race for Haugen's Senate seat? Problems that have plagued the Keystone run are a top issue for her opponents, who hope voters will feel the same. By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer Two Oak Harbor candidates are hoping voter frustration with the state ferry system will help them unseat veteran state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island. Linda Haddon, a Republican, and Sarah Hart of America's Third Party contend problems such as inadequate ferry service for Whidbey Island result from Haugen's failed leadership on transportation policy in the Legislature. Their contentions and Haugen's response are a core element of the three-way primary battle in the 10th Legislative District, which includes all of Island County and parts of Skagit and Snohomish counties. The two candidates who gain the most votes in the Aug. 19 primary will advance to the November ballot. Haugen and Haddon are heavily favored this election because they are better recognized among voters. And they each are heavily backed by the state's two major parties, each of which has made this a targeted race. Haugen, 67, a state lawmaker since 1983, started in the House of Representatives and is now seeking a fifth term in the Senate. She said she's most proud this past term of seeing Cama Beach State Park opened, farmland preservation policies passed and a carpool lane constructed on I-5 through Everett earlier than originally planned. Ferry woes are what are getting more attention in this contest. Haddon and Hart said Haugen, who is chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, must answer for the state's not having boats available when the aging Steel Electric-class vessels got pulled from service on the Keystone-Port Townsend route last year. "No question, those new boats need to be in the water as soon as possible," Haugen said. "I assure you by the time of the election there will be a signed boat-construction contract. "The ferry system is a problem, I recognize that. I've worked hard to turn that operation around," she said. "If I'm gone, who's going to fight for the ferries then?" Haddon, 59, said she will do the fighting and be more effective. "We still don't have a ferry. We have this toy boat running back and forth between Keystone and Port Townsend," she said. "I think we could build boats faster than we're doing." Haddon is a certified life celebrant who conducts memorials and weddings. She is a former Island County planning commissioner and served on the community task force that helped prevent closure of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in the early 1990s. Aside from the issue of the ferries, Haddon is pledging to provide "desperately needed" tax relief while being tight-fisted with public tax dollars. She said she does want to put more money into education while curbing the state's appetite for spending. She praised Haugen for doing "some very good things for this district." "She's been there 26 years. Maybe we need some fresh eyes," she said. Hart, 30, a substitute teacher in the Oak Harbor School District, is making her first run for office. She said she decided to run last November when the state yanked the Steel Electric ferries out of service on the eve of Thanksgiving. "People had to drive 300 miles to get to see their families," she said. Haugen was not proactive enough to ensure the island would not be cut off as it was, she said. Ferries proved the "tipping point" to get her into the race, where she's campaigning for greater openness and less wasteful spending in government. She wants to increase the stock of affordable homes and expand use of environmentally sensitive technology while pursuing oil drilling offshore as a means of ending U.S. dependency on foreign oil. Hart also wants to educate voters on her young political party. "This is a centrist party. We try to meet in the middle to find solutions that work for all of us," she said. Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

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