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The
Herald
Published: September 30,
2001 'Terror
Attack Alters Election'
By
Warren Cornwall
, Herald Writer
Dave Schmidt
planned to spend October going door-to-door asking
Snohomish
County
residents to vote him onto the county council.
Instead, the
47-year-old Republican lawmaker packed his bags and donned his
military fatigues Saturday, bound for a month of National
Guard service near
Tacoma
.
The
repercussions of the Sept. 11 attacks in
New York
and
Washington
,
D.C.
, already rippling across the nation, have now reached the
local political arena. At the height of the election season,
with control of the county council in the balance, Schmidt
said he will be spending much of the next 30 days at
Camp
Murray
, the state National Guard headquarters south of
Tacoma
.
It throws an
unexpected curve into the District 4 race between Schmidt, a
four-term state legislator, and Democrat Dave Gossett, the
mayor of
Mountlake Terrace
. Three seats are up for election on the five-member council.
What impact it
will have, however, is unclear.
Throughout his
campaign, Schmidt has stressed the importance of doorbelling
in local elections -- going out to voters' homes and talking
one-on-one. Now, Schmidt said, he will be sending out a letter
telling voters that he may well not be knocking on their doors
because of his National Guard duties.
"Doorbelling
is really important. But I think it's amazing how things can
change perspective," Schmidt said.
He said he was
uncertain whether he could return to
Snohomish
County
to doorbell very often, but he can communicate with campaign
staff and voters via e-mail and cell phone.
Gossett said he
believed that Schmidt would be able to return at times to
campaign, including a candidate's event this week, based on
Schmidt's statements at a Friday candidates' forum.
"I don't
think it's going to have a giant effect," he said of
Schmidt's move to
Camp
Murray
. "If he'd been called out of the state, that would
obviously have a major impact."
However, at a
time when patriotic spirit is running high, Schmidt hopes his
willingness to put military service before politics might
appeal to voters.
Gossett said
that while the national issues are important, he thought
voters looking at the local race would be concerned largely
with local matters such as growth and transportation.
"I think
it's much more likely that this race is going to turn on the
same local issues that have been the focus since the
beginning," he said.
Schmidt, a staff
sergeant in the state's National Guard, learned he would be
called up Thursday while at a guard training exercise, he
said. It's part of an activation of guard members across the
state to bolster security at airports, authorized by Gov. Gary
Locke on Thursday.
The Federal
Aviation Administration had asked the Department of Defense to
oversee the call-up of 5,000 guard members around the country
to help secure airports.
Schmidt
predicted he could wind up helping to coordinate the statewide
security measures from
Camp
Murray
. He said the job could run seven days a week, 12 hours a day.
It could be extended for an additional 30 days, he said. But
if elected, it wouldn't overlap with the time when he would
need to take office, he said.
Schmidt said he
might have been able to seek an exemption from the call-up
because of the pending election, but opted not to.
"Elections
come and go. This is hopefully a once in a lifetime crisis for
the country," he said.
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