A ruling on Thursday involving campaign disclosure law now falls squarely on the growing race for Governor in Washington.
“Washington voters deserve and demand a transparent campaign system where the origin of political spending is clear” says Tallman Trask, a lawyer lobbying the Public Disclosure Commission to close a loophole in the law.
For years, the state has allowed candidates to carry-over campaign contributions from previous elections without disclosing the amount or the name of the donor.
“The transferred surplus funds act a lot like the shell contribution” Trask, who reportedly worked with lawyers from Hilary Franz campaign for governor, argued the non-disclosure could allow donors to double down on contributions “The only records voters can access do not reflect the true contributor; and the hidden contributor is maybe able to side-step contribution limits.”
The petition asked for a “New Interpretation” of existing state law “I think the public disclosure commission is putting their finger on the scale” Republican Reagan Dunn, a member of the King County Council pushed back, but commission chair Fred Jarrett was not swayed “I think there’s a general sense that transparency wins.”
The ruling immediately lands on the 2024 race for Governor where Attorney General Bob Ferguson has a $2.8M surplus and Lands Commissioner Franz checks-in with about $29,000. Both are Democrats.
That’s a lot of money when you consider Jay Inslee spent $21M on his first run for governor in 2012.
“(we) Should be airing on the side of transparency” Commissioner Bill Downing told the public “It should be treated as a contribution when it is applied to a campaign for a new office.”
Following Trasks first appearance before the PDC two weeks ago Hilary Franz tweeted on May 2nd “I reiterate my pledge to not transfer surplus campaign funds until the PDC is done updating guidelines to ensure campaign contribution limits are not violated.”
A week later Hilary Franz announced her run for governor.
According to a report in the Seattle Times lawyers for the Franz campaign urged the commission to withdraw its ‘erroneous guidelines’ regarding surplus funds.
A special session of the Public Disclosure Commission was scheduled for May 11th.
“I understand the timing is a little unusual” Vice-Chair Nancy Isserlis explained “Luckily this commission had the flexibility to schedule a special meeting and make a decision in a timely manner.”
Following the unanimous vote Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who’s exploring a run for governor, responded with a statement that reads in part: “Surplus funds can be transferred to a subsequent committee for another office with written approval by the donor. That remains unchanged with today’s decision.
He goes on to say, “We respect the PDC’s decision to change that guidance and look forward to following the new rules going forward.”
Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz offered these words in her own statement: “Being able to run for a new office and transfer money around without counting it towards contribution limits — effectively double and triple dipping with donors — was never something our laws were meant to allow and not the kind of integrity voters expect.”
