Dems Contributing Heavily to Frasier in Bid to Unseat Walsh in the 19th

A highly contested House race in the 19th Legislative District has the Democratic Party pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into challenger Erin Frasier’s campaign as she seeks to unseat incumbent Republican Jim Walsh.

According to the State Public Disclosure Commission, the agency that keeps tabs on campaign contributions and expenditures, as of the week before the election Frasier had raised a little more than $356,200, and spent nearly $345,000 on campaign activities such as signs, mailers and radio and newspaper advertisements. By comparison, two years ago, Democrat Teresa Purcell spent a little more than $250,000 in her unsuccessful bid against Walsh, who was running for his first term.

Various arms of the Democratic Party have contributed $233,442-plus in cash and in-kind donations to Frasier’s campaign, the largest a $75,000 cash donation from the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign, an organization established in 2013 to support election and re-election of Democrats to the state Senate.

Walsh’s campaign claims cash and in-kind contributions from the Republican Party of just more than $74,000, the largest a cash contribution of $50,000 from the House Republican Organizational Committee.

Non-party contributions

Frasier received contributions of $2,000 each from several labor groups including UFCW 21, which represents industry workers in grocery store retail and health care; the Service Employees International Union, which represents caregivers; Laborer’s International Local 252; and the Washington Federation of State Employees. The same amount was donated by the Childrens Campaign Fund; the Washington Education Association; and the Justice for All PAC, a group that supports pro-civil justice candidates. Other union interests donating cash included the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, UA Pipefitters Local 26, and IBEW Local 77, representing electrical workers.

Walsh got cash contributions from Wiegardt Brothers, Inc., oyster producers; Puget Sound Energy; the Washington Beer and Wine Distributors Association; Northwest Dairymen; the Washington Affordable Housing Council, the political action committee of the Building Industry Association of Washington; Delta Dental; Phillips 66; timber companies including Rayonier, Weyerhaeuser and Green Diamond; and the Washington Forest Protection Association.

Independent expenditures

Independent expenditures are made without the cooperation or consultation of a particular candidate. The Public Disclosure Commission requires these contributions to be reported with a designation indicating if they are in support of or against a particular candidate.

Frasier has independent expenditures in her favor from the Mainstream Voters of Washington, a group funded heavily by Democratic groups like the Harry Truman Fund and Justice for All PAC; the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund, and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest totaling more than $150,000.

The “against” expenditures were from the Quality Communities Committee — $81,956 funded entirely by Chad Minnick, a “public affairs specialist and political strategist” from Bellevue — and the Conscience of the Progressives sponsored by Send a Message PAC, the group behind the controversial mailers sent to district voters in October urging them to write in Teresa Purcell over Frasier on the general election ballot.

A large independent expenditure — nearly $220,000 — was made against Walsh by the Mainstream Voters of Washington, for direct mail, cable ads, radio ads and video production. The Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund also shelled out more than $1,500 for ads against Walsh.

Our Olympic Communities PAC, Quality Communities Committee and the Mainstream Republicans of Washington paid for advertising in favor of Walsh totaling less than $30,000.