Democrats did a poll to check on the vulnerability of Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, and the results made them smile.
Haugen led Republican challenger Linda Haddon of Oak Harbor 49 percent to 29 percent in the phone survey done last weekend.
The Senate Democratic Campaign Committee paid for the poll of 400 registered voters.
If you’re a fan of Haugen, this is good news because the Republican Party has made her one of its targets this election season.
Since last fall they’ve hit Haugen on the issue of transportation – an obvious subject given her position as chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
In newspaper ads, letters to the editor and community forums, Republicans have criticized her for a number of things, most notably not doing more to avert problems facing the state ferry system.
On Wednesday night, the Leadership Council, a political action committee run by Senate Republicans,
made the ferry system the focal point of an hourlong telephone town hall with Island County residents.
Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, and Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, led the discussion in which 1,800 people participated in what amounted to a massive conference call, said council executive director Brent Ludeman.
At the end of the hour, callers were asked a bunch of questions about ferry service and the system. Ludeman said 65 percent said they would pay 50 cents more per ride to have new boats and reliable service on Whidbey Island ferry runs.
There was a question on Haugen’s role in one of the ongoing ferry challenges of replacing the Steel Electric class pulled from service last November.
Nearly 90 percent said they found her to be “somewhat responsible” or “very responsible” for troubles with getting replacement vessels.
That’s interesting. Democrats said in their poll they asked how important an issue are the ferries in this election and not many said it was a key concern.
Imagine that.
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