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Following the money: who's donating to Spokane City Council candidates

More than $400,000 have already spent across ten campaigns for three seats.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The primary election in Washington is August 3; ballots are due Tuesday.

Ten candidates are running for three seats on Spokane City Council (although only eight of the candidates will appear on the primary ballot), and a lot of money has already spent on their campaigns — $435,834 in all as of Thursday.

When breaking down where that money is coming from, it's important to know their are two varieties of donations. 

One, the traditional form, is called contributions. This is just you giving money to a candidate’s official campaign. There’s a limit on how much money one person or organization can give.

But there’s another type of political spending called independent expenditures. This is when a person, or more commonly a political action committee, spends money on a candidate’s behalf, with or without that candidates approval. The money doesn’t go through the formal campaign, and there are no limits to this kind of spending.

So, a PAC could buy their own ads in support of a particular candidate, whether or not that candidate wants them to, and they can buy an unlimited amount of them.

In 2019 independent expenditures were a big part of the Spokane mayor’s race. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on behalf of both Nadine Woodward and Ben Stuckart. And in this election, the numbers are smaller so far, but they’re still big as of Thursday.

District 1 — Northeast

Jonathan Bingle

Total Contributions: $38,515

Number of Contributors: 123

Total Independent Expenditures: $53,329 combined from the National Association of Realtors Fund and the Washington Realtors PAC

Notable Contributors: business leaders Duane Alton, Carol Wendle, David McGann, Anne Marie Lish; several development and construction companies.

Luc Jasmin III

Total Contributions: $48,413

Number of Contributors: 183

Total Independent Expenditures: $799 from FUSE Washington, a progressive political organization.

Notable Contributors: State Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs, Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson, former Councilwoman Amber Waldref, Spokane Public Schools Board President Jerrall Haynes, Habitat for Humanity CEO Michelle Girardot, Pastor Lonnie Mitchell.

Naghmana Sherazi

Total Contributions: $36,814

Number of Contributors: 203

Total Independent Expenditures: $799 from FUSE Washington, a progressive political organization.

Notable Contributors: Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs, Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson, Councilwoman Kate Burke, former Councilwoman Amber Waldref, SPS Board Member Nikki Lockwood, SPS Board Member Jenny Slagle, Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, Gonzaga University Chief Diversity Officer Raymond Reyes.

District 2* — South

*With only two candidates in this race, both automatically advance to the general election and so will not appear on the primary ballot.

Betsy Wilkerson

Total Contributions: $51,700

Number of Contributors: 257

Total Independent Expenditures: none.

Notable Contributors: State Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs, Councilwoman Lori Kinnear, SPS Board Member Jenny Slagle, former Council President Ben Stuckart, State Representative Marcus Riccelli, Washington Department of Commerce Director Lisa Brown, NAACP Spokane Vice President Kurtis Robinson, Tenants Union Spokane Director Terri Anderson, Pastor Lonnie Mitchell, former council president candidate Cindy Wendle, business leaders Carol Wendle, Larry Stone, Washington Realtors PAC.

Tyler LeMasters

Total Contributions: $10,903

Number of Contributors: 36

Total Independent Expenditures: none.

Notable Contributors: State Senator Mike Padden, businessman Scott Wetzel.

District 3 — Northwest

Mike Lish

Total Contributions: $49,193

Number of Contributors: 127

Total Independent Expenditures: $39,399 combined from the National Association of Realtors Fund and the Washington Realtors PAC

Notable Contributors: business leaders Duane Alton, Carol Wendle, David McGann, Scott Wetzel, Mark Sonderen, William Butler; former Spokane County Commissioner Nancy McLaughlin, former Spokane City Councilman Brad Stark, former US Attorney Jim McDevitt.

Lu Hill

Total Contributions: $40,852

Number of Contributors: 264

Total Independent Expenditures: $799 from FUSE Washington, a progressive political organization. 

Notable Contributors: Spokane City Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson, Councilwoman Kate Burke, former Council president Ben Stuckart, SPS Board Member Nikki Lockwood, SPS Board Member Jenny Slagle, NAACP Spokane Vice President Kurtis Robinson, NAACP Spokane President Kiantha Duncan, human rights advocate Jon Lemus.

Zack Zappone

Total Contributions: $34,928

Number of Contributors: 177

Total Independent Expenditures: none.

Notable Contributors: Spokane City Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson, Councilwoman Lori Kinnear, NorthEast Washington Educational Service District 101 Superintendent Michael Dunn, State Senator Marko Liias, former congressional candidate Tom Keefe; numerous union and labor groups.

Karen Kearney

Total Contributions: $20,302

Number of Contributors: 23

Total Independent Expenditures: none.

Notable Contributors: none; campaign largely self-funded.

Christopher Savage

Total Contributions: $9,088

Number of Contributors: 19

Total Independent Expenditures: none.

Notable Contributors: none.

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