14th District Winners Look Ahead

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Story Published: Aug 20, 2008 at 5:41 PM PDT

By Steve Wellman

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It's the day after the election, and 14th District Republican candidate Norm Johnson is out checking his signs. They'll need to stay up now until November. "Maybe I can straighten it up a bit," he says. Then Johnson adds about his win in the primaries, "I was elated to say the least."

Democrat Vickie Ybarra is back at work, safely in place for the fall runoff. "I learned that running for the state legislature is a lot different than running for the school board," Ybarra grins.

The two will now face each other for the showdown, far different from the original field of six. There's a tale in the numbers. With 15,736 votes counted, Johnson got just over 21% to Ybarra's 32.4%.

Johnson says, "I pretty much assumed that Mrs. Ybarra would be one of the six because she was the lone Democrat running."

However, if the race goes forward along party lines, Johnson could capture most if not all of the tally for the other original Republicans. That could be a November blowout for Johnson's camp.

Steve Wellman says, "Both Johnson and Ybarra say walking neighborhoods like this and meeting the folks had a lot to do with their initial success. But now that the list of candidates is narrowed down, their strategies are going to have to become more concentrated."

"Being down to one opponent will help us focus a little more," Ybarra confirms. " It will help us get out our message that this election is about the future of Yakima."

Norm Johnson tells Action News "I think for one thing we'll have to define the differences between Mrs. Ybarra and myself."
But both Ybarra and Johnson claim their overall goals in the general election will remain unchanged.

"Healthcare, education, and economic development," says Ybarra. "We talked with voters who let us know those are their priorities as well."

And Norm Johnson states his themes: "No new taxes, and that we balance our budget to live within our means."

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