Weeks after Republican Dale Whitaker lost in the primary to become Spokane County's next auditor, he used his company phone numbers to send anonymous texts to local Republicans trying to undermine rival Republican Michael Cathcart, who bested Whitaker for a spot on the November ballot.
Cathcart is facing Democrat Callie Gee on Nov. 3 to replace outgoing Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton.
The primary had been colored by a number of anonymous attacks on Cathcart's Republican bona fides, including for having received an endorsement by Dalton, a Democrat who has served as auditor for nearly three decades. When the Aug. 4 primary arrived, Cathcart received almost 28% of the vote, just ahead of Whitaker, who earned a little under 26%.
Despite now being the only Republican on the ballot for the race, when the Spokane County GOP met on Aug. 23 for its convention, it wasn't clear that Cathcart would get the party's endorsement in his upcoming race. He was removed from consideration by party leadership, and one section of the new party platform explicitly forbade candidates from getting the party's endorsement if they had also received endorsements from Democrats.
And as delegates met that Saturday, every one of them was inundated by five text messages from three different phone numbers urging them not to endorse Cathcart.
"Reject the endorsement of Michael Cathcart," one read in part. "He is a traitor to Republican values, the family unit, and the American dream."
A sixth text invited participants to fill out a survey filled with over a dozen statements characterizing Cathcart as a fake Republican, and then asking respondents whether those statements made them less likely to vote for him. One stated that "The Spokane County Republican Party declined to endorse Michael Cathcart," despite being sent before the endorsement vote.
Despite the efforts of party leaders and Whitaker, county GOP delegates successfully added Cathcart back to the roster of endorsed candidates. The new party platform, which expressly forbids party endorsements for those with Democratic supporters, will only apply for future races, party chair Rob Linebarger noted at the time.
Linebarger could not be reached for this story.
Campaign finance activist Conner Edwards filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission in July, alleging that whoever had sent an anonymous mailer earlier that summer characterizing Cathcart as various movie monsters had broken state law requiring disclosure of the source of political messaging.
Edwards amended that complaint in mid-September, adding the anonymous texts and survey sent during the GOP convention and alleging they appeared to have come from the same source. As with the mailer, Edwards argued they violated state law by failing to disclose their source.
In early October, the PDC zeroed in on a suspect: Whitaker. The phone numbers that sent the anonymous texts belonged to Whitaker's business PolitiFast, a campaign website builder.
In a letter to the state agency, Whitaker once again denied having any involvement with the anonymous mailer, but admitted to sending the anonymous texts and survey. He argued they did not qualify as electioneering, which would legally require disclosure notices, but were solely meant to sway the party convention.
"None mentions the November general election or asks anyone to vote against him in it," Whitaker wrote in the letter. "Two of them ended with the line 'This message is intended for Spokane County GOP delegates only and is not part of any political campaign.' That line reflected my understanding that these were party communications among delegates, not campaign advertising."
He had "disregarded" any responses to the survey as well, he added — it, too, was solely meant to sway the delegates' endorsement vote later that afternoon.
On Oct. 16, rather than proceed to be investigated, Whitaker agreed to a statement of understanding with the PDC acknowledging that he had violated state law by failing to provide a disclosure notice with his texts and survey. The PDC accepted the acknowledgment of guilt and levied no penalty against Whitaker. A spokesperson clarified Thursday that the agency is still investigating the mailer.
In a brief interview, Cathcart called the midconvention attacks "unprecedented" but said he is focused on the general election.
"It was more of an annoyance than anything," he added.
Whitaker responded to a request for comment via text, noting that he was currently vacationing in Malaysia and asking which Republican he had attacked. Pointed to his statement admitting to anonymously attacking Cathcart, Whitaker repeated the question, suggesting Cathcart wasn't a true Republican.
"Yeah I asked you which Republican I attacked and you haven't answered with the name of any Republicans," he wrote.
"Have you ever tried Penang Sup Torpedo?" Whitaker added, using the local name for Malaysian bull penis soup. "One of the best soups I've ever tried."
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