Gubernatorial candidate rallies Republicans in Kennewick park

Benton and Franklin Republicans held a convention of sorts Friday afternoon in Kennewick’s Columbia Park.

Bill Bryant, the leading Republican candidate for governor, headlined a rally and get-out-the-vote gathering under a picnic canopy near the Playground of Dreams.

He was joined by U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R.-Sunnyside, and Michael Waite, Republican candidate for state treasurer and several candidates for the state Legislature for a casual gathering with voters and supporters. Benton County Treasurer Duane Davidson is running for state treasurer but was at a westside event. He sent his daughter Kinzey in his stead.

The gathering coincided with a 23-city bus tour designed to introduce Bryant to Washington voters. There are 11 candidates in the race for governor, including Jay Inslee, the Democratic incumbent.

Republicans consider Inslee vulnerable after a prisoner release scandal and the ongoing challenge of funding public education.

Bryant, the leading Republican candidate, owns a Seattle export business and formerly served on the Port of Seattle Commission.

Mindful of the 2014 West Coast port dispute, Bryant said there was little he could do as a port commissioner to intervene between the terminal operator and the International Longshore Workers Union.

Had he been governor, he said, he would have implored the White House to get involved sooner to resolve the dispute that ended up costing the Washington economy an estimated $700 million in lost business and access to markets.

Bryant has asked the union and the Pacific Maritime Institute to assure customers they will operate under the current contract when it expires in 2020, or agree to adopt a new one before then. Businesses and farmers need to know they can rely on the ports to move their products.

Bryant said Olympia’s top priority rightly should be addressing the education issues raised by the Supreme Court’s McCleary ruling, which held the Legislature is failing its constitutional duty to amply fund public education.

Bryant said the state needs to amply and equitably fund education but said its more than a budget issue.

“Pouring gasoline in a broken engine won’t get us where we need to go,” he said.

Bryant said the Legislature needs to start the session by determining how much it will spend per pupil, then tackle systemic issues. The assembly-line model doesn’t suit all students. He longer works. Citing Delta High School in Pasco as a model, he said specialized schools could operate within existing districts.

He wants to reinvent the last two years of high school to ensure it is relevant to students regardless of whether they’re headed to college or a vocational career.

Bryant has been endorsed locally by the Benton and Franklin Republican parties, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, former U.S. Rep. Sid Morrison, and many Republican office holders in local government.

Inslee and Bryant will debate Aug. 17 at Spokane Falls Community College.

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Gubernatorial candidate rallies Republicans in Kennewick park."