An unprecedented amount of money is pouring into Spokane elections this year.
The 10 people running for city office have raised $2 million in direct contributions. And that’s not counting the $1.86 million that’s been spent by political action committees, which are not allowed to coordinate with candidates by law.
The overwhelming majority of that outside spending — $1.66 million, or 89% — has been in support of conservative-leaning candidates.
This year’s two ballot measures are also generating big amounts of money. PACs have spent $232,246 in opposition to Measure 1, which would raise the local sales tax to fund a new jail and other public safety services, and $15,308 in support. Proposition 1, which would expand the city’s homeless camping ban, has generated $329,079 in supportive spending, and $118,797 in opposition.
All together, that’s $4.6 million in political spending this election season — about 12 bucks per registered voter.
Here are some other big numbers that highlight this year’s efforts to buy… we mean, earn votes.
3
Number of fundraising records broken in the race for mayor, council president and City Council
Three candidates have smashed major fundraising records this year, according to historical PDC data, which goes back to 2007.
The previous record for fundraising in a Spokane mayoral race was set by David Condon, who raised $395,023 when he ran for reelection in 2015. Mayor Nadine Woodward and her opponent, Lisa Brown, both shattered that record this year. Woodward leads in fundraising with $558,611 in direct contributions. Brown isn’t too far behind, with $508,548 in direct contributions.
The previous fundraising record for a City Council president race was set by Cindy Wendle, who raised $260,314 when she ran for council president in 2019. Kim Plese broke that record this year with $266,362 in direct contributions.
The record for most money raised in the race for a single council district was previously held by Zack Zappone, who raised $110,000 when he won his District 3 seat in 2019. Katey Treloar, who is running in District 2 this year, broke Zappone’s record with $160,240 in direct contributions.
$388,048
Amount spent on attack ads against Lisa Brown, this year’s most attacked candidate
The Spokane Good Government Alliance — a conservative PAC — has spent $388,048 on attack ads against Brown, making her the most attacked candidate in this year’s election. In close second is Betsy Wilkerson, who has been hit with $349,410 in attack ad spending from the alliance in her run for council president.
On the other side of the spectrum, the left-leaning Citizens for Liberty and Labor PAC has spent $80,023 on attack ads against Woodward and $57,231 on attacks against Wilkerson’s opponent, Plese.
Candidates on both sides have described the attacks against them as divisive and misleading.
Attack ads have attempted to paint liberal council candidates Paul Dillon and Kitty Klitzke — who have each been subject to roughly $40,000 in attack spending from the alliance — as “radicals” who support defunding the police.
Klitzke voiced support for the “defund the police” movement in summer 2020, but when asked about it during a recent KSPS debate, Klitzke said she no longer supports it because “we’ve made some progress since then.”
In advertisements, the alliance has claimed that Dillon is “Employed by Defund the Police,” referring to his work with the local Planned Parenthood chapter. In 2020, the national Planned Parenthood organization released a blog post that called for “defunding the police,” which the post defined as “investing less in militarizing police forces and investing more in community-based solutions, education and health care.” Dillon, like Klitzke, has said on the campaign trail that he does not support defunding the police, and wants to invest in the Spokane Police Department.
Woodward’s campaign has called foul and filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission over a TV ad from the Citizens for Liberty PAC, which criticized her handling of the city’s homeless shelter on East Trent Avenue.
Woodward’s campaign also said several parts of the ad were false, including a claim that the shelter lacks running water. This is technically correct because the shelter does have flush toilets and sinks — in the staff-only portion of the building. The 300-plus homeless people who stay there use outdoor porta-potties and portable sinks.
$0
Independent outside spending on attack ads against this year’s least-attacked candidates
Incumbent Council member Michael Cathcart and Treloar are the only two candidates to make it through this election cycle relatively unscathed, with no spending against them.
The two other candidates with the smallest amount of attack ad spending against them: Klitzke’s opponent, Earl Moore, with $9,081in attacks from Citizens for Liberty. And Lindsey Shaw, who faces Cathcart, with $4,062 in attacks from the Good Government Alliance.
$63,451
Total donated to all seven active candidates for Coeur d’Alene City Council
The cumulative money donated to all seven active candidates for Coeur d’Alene City Council is $63,451, and only about half that has been spent campaigning so far. None of that money came from or went to political action committees to support those candidates.
Spokane’s spending blows that out of the water.
Independent PAC expenditures just to support Woodward are more than five times that amount.
The $1.8 million in total outside spending for Spokane’s races is more than 26 times the CDA total.
5
Deep-pocketed donors who aren’t Larry Stone
Larry Stone is not alone. While the developer and businessman has received a lot of attention and scrutiny for his very large contributions this campaign season — totaling at least $290,000 — several other developers and large business owners have also been pouring big sums into similar causes this election.
Developer William Lawson has given at least $150,000 to the Spokane Good Government Alliance through his own name and his company LTSK LLC.
Downtown property owner and developer Jerry Dicker has given more than $170,000 to the Good Government Alliance, Woodward, Plese, Moore and Treloar through his various businesses, which include the Dicker Family Trust, Ruby River Hotel and GVD Hospitality Management Services.
Builder Bill Bouten has also given more than $115,000 to the Good Government Alliance, Woodward, Plese, Treloar, Moore, Cathcart, and Clean and Safe Spokane, a PAC supporting the homeless camping ban. He donated through Sparwood Properties LLC, Bouten Construction and in his own name.
Real estate tycoon Alvin J. Wolff Jr. and his family members who’ve inherited the Wolff Company have donated at least $206,000 to the Good Government Alliance, Woodward, Plese, Treloar, Moore and Cathcart. The largest share of that, $160,000 to the Good Government Alliance, was made through FJ Contribution Company I LLC.
The Gee Automotive family, including current CEO Ryan Gee, have contributed a combined $219,850 to the same conservative candidates and causes: Good Government Alliance, Woodward, Plese, Treloar, Moore and Cathcart. The largest share of that is $190,000 to the Good Government Alliance through Gee Automotive Companies.
$1.6 million
Spending by Realtors and developers
The National Association of Realtors Fund, Spokane Good Government Alliance (heavily funded by developers and builders), the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association PAC and the Washington Realtors PAC have thrown a whopping $1,676,002 into Spokane races this election cycle.
That’s about twice what the Washington Realtors PAC and the Spokane Good Government Alliance spent in 2019, when the mayor’s office and council president were also on the ballot.
By early October of that year, just the Realtor spending alone had already surpassed the combined total of independent expenditures in Spokane races in any previous year going back to at least 2007.
The National Association of Realtors has 1.5 million members and is ranked by Opensecrets.org as one of the largest PACs in the country. The group spent more than $12 million nationwide last year and has invested heavily in races in Seattle, Spokane and other cities this year.
18%
Proportion, on average, of candidates’ spending that goes toward “management and consulting services”
The real winners of election season get a paycheck no matter what happens on Election Day. This year, candidates looking for advice on what to say and how to say it have spent a combined $345,200 on management and consultants.
Many candidates rely on the same consulting companies. The two most popular progressive consulting groups this year are Rising Tide Consulting, a Spokane-based company that has done work for the Shaw, Wilkerson and Dillon campaigns; and Bracken Consulting, which has done work for the Klitzke, Dillon and Shaw campaigns.
Candidates on the other side of the political spectrum gravitate toward Crimson Consulting, a local company that has done work for the Woodward, Moore and Treloar campaigns.
Most candidates put between 5% and 20% of their total campaign spending toward management and consulting services, but there are a few outliers. Shaw has spent $17,950 — 39% of her total campaign spending — on management and consulting services. Shaw’s opponent, Cathcart, appears to be the only Spokane candidate who hasn’t reported any spending on management and consulting services.
The largest total amount of consultant spending comes from Brown, who has put $183,492 — 42% of her total campaign expenditures —toward consultants and campaign management.
50,225
Number of Spokane County ballots returned
As of Monday, Oct. 30, 15.49% of Spokane County voters had returned their ballots. That’s slightly higher than the same time in 2019, when 45,828 people — 13.86% of registered voters — had returned their ballots. Total turnout for the 2019 election was 47%.
7 CENTS
Cost of a single anti-Paul Dillon text message
Texts are cheap.
On Oct. 10, the Spokane Good Government Alliance paid RumbleUp! $216.80 for 3,252 anti-Dillon text messages — roughly 7 cents per text.
Prices seem to vary by district and candidate: 4,132 anti-Klitzke text messages from the same company cost 20 cents a text, while the same number of pro-Moore texts cost just 5 cents each.
Mailers seem to be a bit more expensive. The alliance paid Camelback Strategy Group, a Republican political group, $5,228 for design, printing and postage of 4,741 pieces of anti-Shaw/pro-Cathcart literature — a bit more than a dollar a mailer.
Seven days of anti-Brown advertising on CNN, ESPN and TBS cost the alliance $12,500. Production of an anti-Wilkerson ad cost $6,750.
The alliance has also paid Camelback Strategy Group for door-to-door canvassing services. For the month of September, canvassing in support of Cathcart, Treloar and Moore cost $6,250 per candidate. That same month, the alliance spent $18,750 on pro-Plese canvassing and $37,500 on pro-Woodward canvassing.
$26
Cost of balloons for Lindsey Shaw’s campaign kickoff event
The PDC reports are a gold mine of random, one-off purchases and expenses. It’s not the most relevant information for voters this election season, but it is kind of interesting — and occasionally illuminating.
Records show that Woodward’s campaign, for example, spent $144 on dessert items from Bruttles Gourmet Candy for her campaign office. Plese’s campaign spent $102 on decorative cakes and cupcakes from Rosauers, and $73 on mixed nuts, peanuts and cashew nuts from Costco for a fundraising event.
Monthly rent for Brown’s campaign headquarters — a small retail space next to a tattoo parlor and hair salon just north of the Monroe Street Bridge — is $2,142.
Other campaign purchases include paying musicians to play at events, wine from a private cellar and 21 scoops of ice cream.
Sometimes it’s just cash. Dillon, who won 42% of votes in the primary, gave his campaign manager a $500 “primary win bonus.” His opponent Treloar, who won 32% of the votes, gave her campaign manager a $2,000 “victory bonus.” ♦
