Since Thursday, PACs have put more than $181K into Spokane’s mayoral, city council president races

October 25, 2019 9:10 PM

Erin Robinson,

Posted: October 25, 2019 9:10 PM

Updated: May 20, 2021 11:46 AM

by Erin Robinson

Since Thursday, PACs have put more than $181K into Spokane’s mayoral, city council president races — Copyright 2019 KXLY.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without prior permission.

SPOKANE, Wash. — In just under two weeks, Spokane will elect a new mayor and a new city council president.

More and more money is funneling into the races as political action committees make last-ditch efforts to get their favored candidates elected.

The Washington Realtors PAC has contributed the most money in independent expenditures, backing both mayoral candidate Nadine Woodward and City Council President candidate Cindy Wendle.

As of Friday afternoon, the PAC had spent nearly $240,000 in favor of Nadine Woodward.

The PAC on Friday morning contributed $30,000 for radio advertising. On Thursday, they put up $10,370 for direct mail marketing.

The PAC has put up over $200,000 in favor of Wendle. On Friday, the PAC contributed $50,000 for television advertising and spent over $10,000 on Thursday.

The Realtors PAC has yet to put up any money against Woodward’s and Wendle’s competitors, but the Spokane Good Government Alliance has.

SGGA contributed $54,000 against mayoral candidate Ben Stuckart on Thursday. According to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, that money will be used for television and digital advertising.

SGGA also contributed $27,000 against City Council President candidate Breean Beggs for television advertising.

All of this money does not even account for money contributed directly to the campaigns. This third-party money is controlled by the PACs, not the candidates.

As of Friday, Woodward had raised $270,000 in cash contributions. Stuckart had raised $273,000.

Meantime, Wendle had raised $206,000 and Beggs had raised $118,000.

Spending on the mayoral race alone has topped over $1 million. All of these cash contributions and independent expenditures combined make this election the most expensive in Spokane’s history.