Down and dirty in the 44th

The race between Democrat Rep. Liz Loomis and Republican candidate Mike Hope has gone nasty with accusations flying from both camps concerning negative ads and campaign tactics.

The Snohomish candidates vying for House position 2 in the 44th District vowed early on to keep their battle civil, but with less than month to go until election day, Loomis and Hope are crying foul.

Hope is up in arms over a campaign mailer that claims he’s against women’s health issues — mammograms, overnight hospital stays for mothers and newborns and reproductive rights.

“It’s ridiculous,” Hope said. “I’m absolutely in favor of mammograms and infant care. My wife in her college years found a lump in her breast and because of that we have both raised thousands of dollars to support breast cancer research and to help find a cure.”

The mailer was paid for in part by NARAL, an advocacy group for women’s health and reproductive rights, of which Loomis is a member.

Hope says his opponent’s affiliation with the group is evidence that she must have known about the mailer before it was distributed.

But Loomis, who publicly denounced the mailer, is wagging her finger at Hope for allegedly conducting a push poll against her and misleading voters about her positions on any number of issues including taxes and special interest groups.

“I think the mailer that was distributed attacking my opponent is disgusting and I don’t agree with it at all,” said Loomis, who was appointed to the Legislature in 2008 to complete then-Rep. John Lovick’s term after he was elected Snohomish County Sheriff. “On the other hand, his claim that he’s never resorted to negative tactics against me doesn’t pass the straight face test. His campaign push polled my mother … told her I was a lobbyist and lawsuit happy.”

Even in a meeting with the Enterprise editorial board — days before the mailer was distributed — the candidates bickered back and forth.

Loomis accused Hope of stealing her plan to eliminate Legislative earmarks or pet projects that lawmakers adopt in their individual districts and pay for with state money.

It’s difficult to separate the candidates’ positions on many of the issues including full funding of teacher pay increases and education programs; reducing even eliminating taxes on small businesses; and holding the Legislature accountable through heightened performance audits.

However Hope contends that Loomis has and will raise taxes if elected.

“She votes just like (Gov.) Christine Gregoire,” Hope said. “This election comes down to a philosophical difference … we need to be fiscally responsible all the time not just in difficult times.”

But Loomis disputes those accusations, arguing that she has no intention of further burdening the people in Washington by raising their taxes.

“I’m not into this divide and concur game that my opponent is playing,” Loomis said. “We need to remember the people we’re working for. We’re going to guarantee that education — higher education — has the money it needs if that’s what it takes top get our children good paying jobs in the future.”