2008 Election Financing Fact Book Compiled by Washington State Public Disclosure Commission Olympia, Washington Suemary Trobaugh, Editor The Public Disclosure Commission’s office is located at: 711 Capitol Way, Room (206) Olympia WA 98504 (360) 753-1111 - Fax: (360) 753-1112 www.pdc.wa.gov FOREWORD The 2008 Election Financing Fact Book is the sixteenth in a series of comparable biennial reports produced since 1978 by the Washington Sate Public Disclosure Commission, pursuant to the Commission’s authority in RCW 42.17.370(3) to publish reports and statistics concerning campaign finance so that the information may be fully disclosed to the public. This Fact Book also depicts the political finance activity of the ninth regular legislative election held following the implementation of Initiative 134. Material in this book is based on campaign finance reports filed by candidates and political committees disclosing activity through January 12, 2009. For the most part, these reports have not been audited by PDC staff. Every effort has been made to assure that the data as well as the summary charts and graphs accurately reflect the filed information. The total expenditures by legislative candidates, who reported spending money, are summarized as follows: In 1994, 316 candidates spent $10,516,508 In 1996, 313 candidates spent $13,064,270 In 1998, 267 candidates spent $12,994,043 In 2000, 303 candidates spent $16,257,511 In 2002, 258 candidates spent $15,847,338 In 2004, 257 candidates spent $18,904,376 In 2006, 216 candidates spent $18,850,341 In 2008, 244 candidates spent $21,306,132 From 2004 to 2008 the average expenditure by major party general election legislative candidates with opposition increased approximately 4% from $97,124 to $100,915*. On average a winning general election legislative candidate in 1992 spent $68,692 compared with $119,701 in 2008. The average expenditures for the Democratic and Republican general election candidates for the state legislature by election year are outlined below: *Democratic Party Average *Republican Average 1994 $ 42,491 $41,936 1996 $ 49,290 $59,538 1998 $ 57,233 $68,802 2000 $ 71,895 $74,576 2002 $ 86,732 $69,917 2004 $ 82,549 $83,160 2006 $109,290 $72,715 2008 $105,392 $87,602 For more details, see the section devoted to “The Legislature.” *Candidates have indicated they prefer the identified party. The numbers of candidates, totals spent, and averages listed on this page reflect only candidates who chose the full reporting option and reported spending money. This book primarily profiles statewide executive and legislative candidate campaigns. It includes a descending list of major contributors to these candidates. The reverse directory at the end of the book identifies the significant givers to state office campaigns, those individuals, businesses, unions, PACs and organizations that donated at least an aggregate of $1,000 to statewide executive office or legislative campaigns and were reported as contributors by no fewer than three different candidates. Condition of Release This publication constitutes a “list of individuals” prepared by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and may not be used for commercial purposes. This list is provided on the condition and with the understanding that the person receiving it agrees to the statutorily imposed limitation on its use. See RCW 42.56.070 and AGO 1975 No. 15. 3 Table of Contents Overall Contribution & Expenditure Totals 5 U.S. Congressional Candidates 8 Statewide Elections Reported Expenditures for Statewide Initiatives – 1975-2008 14 Statewide Ballot Propositions for 2007 and 2008 17 State Supreme Court Candidates 20 State Court of Appeals Candidates 21 State Executive Candidates 22 Top 50 Contributors to State Executive Candidates 26 The Legislature State Senate Candidates 29 State House of Representatives Candidates 31 Chart – Total Spent by Legislative Candidates (1978-2008) 36 Average Expenditures by General Election Candidates 37 Average Expenditures by Major Party General Election Candidates 38 Total Raised & Spent by General Election Candidates 41 Total Raised & Spent by Primary & General Election Candidates 44 Most Expensive House & Senate Elections 46 Top 50 Contributors to Legislative Candidates 47 Major Contributors to Legislative Campaigns 49 Political Parties State Party totals for 2000-2008 51 Top Contributors to State Party Accounts 53 Total raised & Spent by Bona Fide Party Committees 56 Caucus Political Committees Total Caucus Expenditures 61 Caucus Tied PAC Expenditures 62 Top Contributors to & Expenditures by Caucus Committees 63 Top Contributors to Caucus Tied PACs 69 Political Committees 50 Most Active PACs 79 Independent Expenditures Chart – Overall Spending (1994-2008) 87 Chart – Legislative Spending (1994-2008) 87 Entities Reporting Making Independent Expenditures 88 Reverse Directory 121 OVERALL CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE TOTALS--2008 Candidates and Committees reporting to Public Disclosure Commission Category Number Contributions Expenditures Candidates* State executive 25 31,771,669 31,708,114 State legislative 244 22,740,938 21,306,132 State supreme court 6 418,127 401,337 Appeals court 5 218,827 215,360 Superior court 81 2,841,406 2,799,223 District & municipal court 10 155,274 146,647 County commission or council 142 3,132,895 2,993,025 Other county offices 19 1,038,159 1,056,362 Port and PUD Commission 62 278,361 274,084 City Offices 0 0 0 Ballot Propositions State ballot measures (2008) 12 9,565,276 9,547,845 Local ballot measures 89 3,759,984 3,716,975 Political committees Democratic Party ** 121 17,520,582 15,700,897 Republican Party** 113 10,536,650 9,931,091 Business 135 11,977,903 9,397,790 Union 59 6,360,742 5,482,126 Issue oriented PACs 89 3,976,538 3,571,716 Other 82 24,759,069 24,576,707 Minor parties 6 4,015 4,015 Totals 1,300 151,060,415 142,29,446 Congressional Candidates*** 18 16,493,862 14,263,341 Totals 1,318 167,553,818 157,092,787 *Amounts include primary and general election candidates who reported receiving or spending funds **See next page for more detail ***No longer required to file campaign reports with the PDC 5 OVERALL CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE TOTALS--2008 Candidates and Committees reporting to Public Disclosure Commission Category Number Contributions Expenditures Political committees Democratic Party: WA State Democrats Non-Exempt Account 1 3,777,296 3,675,733 Exempt Account 1 3,068,743 3,037,531 County and Legislative Districts Non-Exempt Accounts 77 2,649,802 2,252,297 Exempt Accounts 14 271,432 215,187 Caucus Committees House Democrats 1 2,438,648 2,037,637 Senate Democrats 1 1,102,662 986,012 Party Clubs and Other Dem PACs 26 4,211,996 3,496,499 Totals--Democratic Party 121 17,520,581 15,700,897 Republican Party: WA State Republicans Non-Exempt Account 1 1,666,302 1,658,684 Exempt Account 1 1,274,077 1,226,968 County and Legislative Districts Non-Exempt Accounts 66 1,899,004 1,538,903 Exempt Accounts 21 330,428 302,827 Caucus Committees House Republicans 1 763,299 753,213 Senate Republicans 1 903,674 839,198 Party Clubs and Other Rep PACs 23 3,699,862 3,611,295 Totals--Republican Party 113 10,536,650 9,931,091 6 OVERALL EXPENDITURE TOTALS--- Even Years 1998 -- 2008 Candidates and Committees reporting to Public Disclosure Commission Category Number Expenditures 1998 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Candidates: * State executive 43 26 25 $9,994,326 $20,509,892 $31,708,114 State legislative 268 280 258 257 216 244 $12,994,326 $16,257,511 $15,847,338 $18,904,376 $18,639,793 $21,306,132 State supreme court 12 12 9 12 6 6 $825,233 $950,512 $903,582 $1,351,097 $1,648,746 $401,337 Appeals court 2 4 9 2 8 5 $7,352 $83,885 $153,758 $12,955 $243,846 $215,360 Superior court 7 84 7 80 10 81 $134,542 $1,894,441 $205,638 $1,684,308 $188,421 $2,799,223 District and municipal court 69 10 58 7 144 10 $1,281,965 $91,793 $1,015,487 $113,803 $1,089,478 $146,647 County commissioner or council 87 187 98 144 121 142 $1,184,797 $2,368,793 $1,476,522 $2,489,239 $1,977,467 $2,993,025 Other county offices 240 15 190 9 330 19 $2,356,974 $317,000 $2,327,938 $214,108 $2,254,945 $1,056,362 Port and PUD Commission 23 22 53 25 63 62 $66,033 $134,665 $270,221 $229,835 $387,734 $274,084 City offices 0 4 22 0 2 0 0 $601,408 $93,699 0 $110,143 0 Issues: State ballot measures 10 15 12 10 9 12 $5,641,321 $11,904,273 $7,336,881 $13,803,161 $10,885,943 $9,547,845 Local ballot measures 128 178 173 113 95 89 $2,510,451 $2,574,359 $3,656,051 $2,415,619 $1,490,537 $3,716,975 Political committees: Democratic party 101 105 93 119 115 121 $5,436,893 $13,920,395 $6,140,924 $13,717,638 $8,258,619 $15,700,897 Republican party 94 99 84 118 125 113 $5,590,843 $16,811,027 $4,854,657 $10,102,090 $5,066,639 $9,931,091 Business 132 139 120 135 13 135 $4,621,150 $5,002,968 $5,637,489 $6,872,659 $6,558,975 $9,397,790 Union 63 55 52 53 59 59 $2,559,257 $2,686,254 $2,401,360 $3,746,056 $3,073,691 $5,482,126 Issue oriented PACs 48 63 47 82 91 89 $797,189 $2,021,274 $1,692,153 $3,491,493 $3,940,702 $3,571,716 Other (and minor parties) 16 30 29 58 70 88 $168,362 $670,247 $302,825 $4,405,078 $4,973,333 $24,580,722 Totals 1,300 1,345 1,316 1,252 1,480 1,300 $40,176,688 $88,285,131 $54,400,214 $104,082,507 $70,789,012 142,829,446 Congressional Candidates 34 25 20 32 27 18 $25,271,652 $36,844,099 $8,900,096 $15,274,011 $41,098,404 $14,263,341 Totals 1,334 1,370 1,336 1,284 1,504 1,318 $71,448,340 $125,129,230 $63,400,310 $119,356,518 $111,887,416 157,092,787 * The number of candidates reflected in the Number column is not the total number of candidates that ran for office.