Washington state campaign finance laws aren't the most exciting, but here’s an important thing to know: they limit how much one donor can give one candidate during one race, in an effort to keep big money from influencing politics.
A loophole in how that law is interpreted could have an impact on the next gubernatorial race in 2024, however.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson is considered a potential frontrunner if Gov. Jay Inslee decides not to seek a fourth term — something no Washington governor has done successfully, according to The Seattle Times. He's expected to announce his decision this month.
Washington has not elected a Republican governor since 1980. One potential candidate, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier, saidin March he would not run, leaving the Republican ticket wide open.
Early pollingshows Ferguson as the Democratic forerunner. He's already raised almost $3 million, despite the fact he hasn't officially announced he's running.
Much of that is surplus money from past campaigns.
Under the current system, if you give to a candidate and they don’t use your money, they can slush it over when they decide to run again, or run for something else.
And if you decide to give them more for their new race? Your old money doesn’t count toward the legal limit.
"In effect, that allows for something analogous to a shell contribution. The true source is hidden and the true amount is hidden for all of those contributions. That's a problem," Seattle attorney Tallman Trask said to the state public disclosure commission on Thursday. He's petitioning them to weigh in with their interpretation of the law.
Trask was joined by two lawyers working on behalf of Democrat Hilary Franz, the state's public lands commissioner, who is also considering running for governor. She doesn't have nearly the amount of money Ferguson has raised: Just around $30,000 so far, and early polls have her far behind Ferguson.
"These guidelines undermine equity by allowing some donors to effectively give double the applicable contribution limit to a given candidate," Franz's lawyer Derek Schoonmaker said during the commission's meeting.
They're convening a special meeting on May 11 to weigh opinions and decide whether to issue their interpretation of the law.
