“While State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen was touring the island’s highways Tuesday, her opponent in the upcoming election was making final preparations for an event that will formally launch her campaign.Norma Smith, R-Langley, let it be known in April that she will run against Haugen, D-Camano Island, but her official kickoff was on Saturday. The potluck family event will feature Congressman Jack Metcalf, R-Langley, and his wife Norma as guests, as well as a magician and the Pickled Herring band.Smith, 48, has been Metcalf’s field representative to Island, Skagit and north Snohomish counties. She has acted as a liaison to seniors, local governments, the military and small business.Prior to going to work for Metcalf, she was president of the South Whidbey School Board. Education will be one of her major campaign issues. Parents need to play a greater role in their children’s education, she said. We owe it to them, to all the taxpayers, and most of all to our children to give local communities, closest to the classrooms, more control over what goes on inside those walls.Smith has also served for two years as office manager of a South Whidbey church. She and her husband Steve also volunteer their time working with teenagers, inviting hundreds into their home over the years. Their own four children are ages 18 to 23.”