By Will Mari -

Rep. Jaime Herrera, R-Ridgefield, may be new to the state Legislature, but she isn’t new to politics.

“My route was a little non-traditional,” she admitted.

The 2004 alumna grew up in Hockinson, in Clark County, not far from Vancouver and the Oregon border.

After attending Seattle Pacific University, Herrera took some time off from school to do community service work, including 2,000 hours logged as a volunteer at Ground Zero in New York City following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But she soon decided to go back to school and finish her education. She earned an associate degree from Bellevue Community College before transferring to the UW in the spring of 2003.

There, she plunged into academics, studying communications and political science. Herrera worked through the summer, taking 15 credits and working two jobs.

Despite her busy schedule, Herrera made time for her true passion: politics. She became an active member of the College Republicans and participated “in any kind of political event that happened on campus,” she said.

In winter quarter 2004, she applied for and was accepted into the Washington state Legislative Intern Program in Olympia, and was assigned to shadow Republican State Sen. Joe Zarelli. Herrera plunged into policy work, earning 15 credits during the legislative session under the supervision of political science Prof. Scott Olson.

“At the time, early in the legislative session, she struck me as a particularly insightful student,” who worked well with fellow interns and state senators alike, Olson said. “She showed adept skill at moving through the legislative process,” and produced an excellent research paper at the end of the internship that showed she thoroughly understood how the political process worked, he said.

After she finished the session, Herrera was back at the UW for spring and summer quarters. But she was about to set her sights higher.

“I thought, ‘well, heck, what’s another internship I could do that would get me some real-world, practical experience in terms of politics?’”

How about the White House?

Despite being on the opposite side of the political spectrum from most of her professors, Herrera never felt that such differences of opinion would get in the way of wanting to work in the Bush White House.

“[Prof. Olson’s] political views are quite opposite of mine,” Herrera said. “Yet, for the sake of the academics, and the experience and learning, he sponsored me for an internship with the Bush administration,” she said.

With Olson’s enthusiastic backing, she was accepted into the highly selective program for fall quarter 2004, and assigned to the Office of Political Affairs.

“It was a tremendous time to be there, because I was there through the final quarter of the presidential campaign,” Herrera said. While she couldn’t work on the actual reelection campaign as part of her job, it was still exciting. “Being at the national level and really watching first hand that whole thing come to the climax was amazing,” she said.

Herrera graduated at the end of fall quarter 2004, earning her bachelor’s of arts degree in communications with an emphasis in political science. She remained in Washington, D.C., where she got a job working for U.S. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Eastern Washington. Herrera researched health care policy, education, workforce and veterans’ issues, among other things, for the congresswoman.

“I realized, ‘I can do this, this is something that I think is in my future,’” she said. “Before, I had always been interested, but there’s just a point in your life when you realize you’re working towards something and all the pieces start to come together and it’s within reach.”

Those pieces fell together last fall, when she was appointed to represent the 18th district after Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, resigned due to ethics violations.

Herrera was nominated by precinct committee officers, who pick three people in preferential order to go before the Clark and Cowlitz County commissioners, who then choose the replacement. Herrera was the first-choice pick at both stages of this process, and found herself formally appointed to the state house of representatives in late November. She scrambled to get ready for the legislative session, which started Jan. 14. Herrera got her committee assignments about a week before the session began.

“My work’s definitely cut out for me, but the other representatives, my colleagues here who are from southwest Washington, on both sides of the aisle have really come alongside me and are supportive,” she said. “I think they recognize it’s a bit like drinking from a fire hose, starting a session.”

Herrera feels prepared, however, thanks to her experiences at the UW and her internships.

“I’m used to a legislative arena were things are very fast-paced and somewhat chaotic, and you have to be able to work on one issue and then in the next meeting switch topics, switch gears and focus on something else, with deadlines and working with constituents. I’ve very used to that,” she said.

“I think the difference here is being the final say, being the person who signs your name to a piece of legislation, being that final, deciding factor. You’re kind of humbled by it,” she said.

Herrera will be up for election in the fall, and is focusing on settling into her seat and getting to know her constituents.

‘I’m listening very carefully and very closely to what they have to say … and they feel very free to get a hold of me, so I appreciate that,” she said.

Herrera certainly has the support of her old professor.

“She knows the ropes,” said Olson. “She hits the ground running, but she has experience a lot of first-time legislators don’t have,” he said. “She’ll handle her legislative responsibilities with ease”

Olson said that Herrera is an example of what the UW’s opportunities can do for a gifted student.

“This is a case where the legislative internship program took a diamond in the rough and polished it,” he said. “She was a star of our program.”