I write to question the relationship between Brittany Voie, who presents herself as an independent voice on Lewis County politics and Tracy Murphy.
Public records from the Washington Secretary of State show Voie’s firm, Congruent PR LLC (UBI 604 752 302), was administratively dissolved on Feb. 14, 2023, and remained dissolved as of this month. A separate Department of Revenue record for her sole proprietorship (UBI 603-183- 042), registered under the trade names Brittany Voie, Voie Development, and Voie Hype, shows a closed business license with an excise tax account closed Dec. 31, 2021.
However, Voie continues to operate under that license/LLC. Yet PDC filings show Tracy Murphy’s 2022 campaign for Lewis County Sheriff paid Congruent PR LLC nine times totaling $9,332 for consulting and management services — every one of those payments made while Congruent was behind with the state, before its administrative dissolution on Feb.14, 2023.
Voie’s campaign role is documented in her own words. In 2022 Facebook Messenger communications for the Sheriff Murphy campaign, in a group chat including both Voie and Sherri Murphy, Voie described her communications work firsthand.
After Sherri suggested “a great post britt,” Voie replied “yeah, let me roll that angle around,” discussed returning to blogging, and wrote: “I stopped blogging when I took the campaign.”
This chat was made public, too.
Readers have a right to know when a commentator presenting herself as an independent journalistic voice was a paid operative of the campaign she writes about. Collecting thousands of dollars through a business entity that was delinquent with the state raises legitimate questions about both business compliance and editorial independence.
Should a person who considers themselves a journalist or within that realm, be advocating publicly for a candidate she took nearly $10,000 from? Every post she makes about Murphy should come with an asterisk and a disclaimer so readers understand it is potentially biased and designed to influence them in a particular direction.
Brittany through her efforts had been a good resource of accountability for local government but when she profits off that accountability, while denying accountability for herself, it taints her work and her voice and people should be able to question her, when she questions everyone else.
Brandy Shea
Chehalis
