By Steven Friederich, The Daily World —
Former congressman Jay Inslee hit the Harbor on Friday for his first visit as a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, talking about energy jobs at a summit in Elma and meeting with officials at the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen.
Inslee said he understood the Harbor is going through tough times. The county has had double-digit unemployment since 2008 and is once again the highest in the state with 13.8 percent.
“I have a particular appreciation and empathy for a community like this facing these challenges,” Inslee said.
The hallmark of the former congressman’s campaign has been building an economy on clean energy, which played right into his participation at the 7th Annual Energy and Construction Best Practices Summit at the Satsop Business Park Friday morning.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna was invited to debate Inslee on the issue during a gubernatorial forum, but the state attorney general couldn’t attend the event. Instead, Republican strategist Todd Myers filled in.
To read more about the forum as reported by The Daily World, click here.