With just days to go before the midterms, the state agency overseeing election spending has changed how it enforces a law limiting last-minute campaign donations. Political operatives on both sides of the aisle are raising concerns about this late-in-the-game shift.
Previously, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission had capped donations to statewide campaigns or political action committees at $75,000 and at $7,500 for local campaigns in the 21 days leading up to an election. On Oct. 22, the Commission said it would back away from these regulations, citing concerns over constitutionally.
While the change applies to individuals who give to political action committees or to their own campaigns, the limits on donating directly to campaigns or state parties have not changed.
“An agency changing the rules on the eve of an election is just absurd,” said Democratic political consultant Stephen Paolini.
Paolini said removing the last-minute donation cap could affect races for state Supreme Court, especially the close matchup between Ian Birk and Sean O’Donnell. (Paolini is working for the O’Donnell campaign.) That race had already attracted over $1 million before the rule change and is on track to be the most expensive state Supreme Court race ever. Paolini said even more massive amounts of money could suddenly pour into this race from both sides.
Brian Heywood, founder of the conservative political action committee Let’s Go Washington, was also displeased with the change. He wrote on X that it could give powerful labor unions “the green light” to throw more money behind Democratic candidates than they already do.
Kim Bradford, deputy director of the Public Disclosure Commission, explained why the agency made this announcement so close to the Nov. 3 election.
She said a change had been in the works earlier this year, but Gov. Bob Ferguson had made three new appointments to the Commission in the last few months, which contributed to the delay. She also said commissioners felt more comfortable being open about the enforceability of this law as soon as possible, rather than let an election happen and deal with complaints of enforcement afterwards.
“It was important for the Commission to say this on the record ahead of the election, so that everybody knew what the playing field was,” Bradford said.
Washington has had a law on the books since 1985 that caps campaign donations in the 21 days leading up to an election, though the amounts of money in question have changed over the years. Bradford said there have been legal challenges to this law in the past year that led to the Commission’s change.
Former Commission Chair David Ammons raised concerns over the timing of the change.
“The trouble with huge late infusions of money is that they can influence outcomes that may not be known until after the election,” he wrote on Facebook.
Democratic political consultant Dean Nielsen said the new changes could make Washington races less transparent.
“If you don't have the 21-day rule, a campaign can strategically hold out and take money from a ‘bad actor’ closer to the election, so it doesn't have to be listed in the disclaimer,” he said.
Nielsen, who is representing clients in some of the most competitive state House races in Southwestern Washington, said he was skeptical the changes would lead to huge infusions of cash, adding campaign money doesn’t always determine who wins.
Nielsen also questioned how impactful last-minute donations could be when Washingtonians have already begun to turn in their ballots.
