As the general election draws closer, out-of-county spenders are pouring money into the race between County Commissioner Al French and opponent Molly Marshall.
The special interest group spent a total of $200,000 on promotions, mailers and ads for the two candidates over the past two weeks.
The French president has spent more than $70,000 from the real estate agents’ association’s local and national political action committees supporting his re-election, while his opponents have spent $90,000 on efforts to block him from winning a fifth term. I spent over $4,000 on it. .
Marshall, on the other hand, spent $26,500 on his candidacy. There are no independent spending reports against her, according to the Freedom of Information Commission.
At a press conference Wednesday, French blamed “dark money from Seattle” influencing the race. He also highlighted a complaint that Marshall and her supporters filed with the PDC later that afternoon alleging violations of state campaign finance laws.
Two of the complaints accuse Marshall of falsely identifying himself as the incumbent in campaign materials and perpetuating lies about France’s involvement in the response to PFAS-contaminated waters in the West Plains.
Marshall’s logo, which is consistent across campaign signs, mailers and social media, does not include words such as “vote,” “elect,” and “choice” that indicate she is a first-time candidate. Not included.
The message simply says “Molly Marshall” above “County Commissioner D,” which French claims violates state law that prohibits candidates from being unfairly incumbents. are.
Marshall said the PDC had already received a complaint about her logo earlier this year and dismissed it without investigating it as a non-issue. The PDC said Marshall did not use “any terminology that suggests he is an incumbent or has already held office” in emails about the decision provided by candidates.
A separate complaint was directed at political groups and labor unions that funded television ads attacking French over his response to PFAS, according to a copy provided by French. It called the ad defamatory and misinformation. Notable targets of the complaint include FUSE Washington and Washington Conservative Voters, two progressive political groups that supported the failed recall effort against France.
“They lost in the primary, they lost in the courts, so now they’re going to lie in the court of public opinion to sway voters,” French said. “These are desperate tactics by allies of my enemy who are willing to lie and smear me in order to try to rebuild a failed campaign.”
The 30-second ad, paid for by the progressive political action committee Citizens for Liberty and Labor, says, “Because of Al French, our family has been exposed to dangerous chemicals in our drinking water.” The story begins with a woman saying,
It also accuses France of concealing knowledge about the contamination, citing long-circulating claims that France once blocked the county from receiving state aid to address the problem. French argued that because Spokane County and the city had transferred control of the airport site to the Airport Commission, the county could not legally accept the grant.
“We’re in danger of becoming Al French’s Flint, Michigan,” the woman in the ad says. “This is where politicians hide the truth and our health and property values are compromised.”
French’s attorney, Mark Lamb, said the ad violates a state law that prohibits political ads that contain “misrepresentations of material facts about candidates for political office.” He added that many of the claims made in the ad have been disproved in court, as Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libby dismissed the recall petition as lacking legal and factual standing.
“These ads go far beyond the claims thrown out of the courtroom and attempt to claim that Director French is somehow responsible for the contamination,” Lamb said. “There is no factual basis for that, because it is simply a lie.”
Mr. French called on Mr. Marshall to disavow and denounce the ad, noting their shared military background, saying both men had to abide by the Uniform Act of Military Justice during their military service and now. He also said that he is doing so.
“She must condemn these despicable tactics,” French said. “Otherwise, saying nothing is not condoning this kind of smear campaign. Elections should be about comparing records of accomplishments and new ideas for tomorrow, not spreading lies.” It should be something you do.”
In addition to calling for charges and censure, Lamb said he plans to send a cease-and-desist letter to Comcast and other companies that air the ads. French said he is prepared to take legal action if the stations continue broadcasting.
Marshall said Wednesday night that he was reluctant to comment on French’s statements or complaints until he could review them himself.
Among independent spending, Citizens for Liberty and Labor poured more money into the election campaign than any other group, with about $94,500 on the aforementioned ads, mailers and anti-France appeals, and $24,000 in support of Marshall. spent dollars.
Citizens for freedom and work may be familiar terms to voters in this region. Spokane raised more than $354,000 to support Mayor Lisa Brown and City Council members Betsy Wilkerson, Kitty Kritzke and Paul Dillon in last year’s general election, but at least one local news outlet reported that Nadine – One of the ads of a group attacking former Mayor Woodward was taken off air. The station was threatened with legal action for disseminating defamatory statements. Attempts to contact the organization Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The committee has a final list of donors, with Seattle-based progressive groups FUSE Washington and Washington Conservation Voters contributing $77,400 and $15,000, respectively. The Spokane Firefighters Union contributed $32,500 and the state-level firefighters union contributed $7,500. National and statewide union committees representing county and city employees contributed a combined $55,000.
Mr. French and Mr. Lamb emphasized that 82% of the commission’s funding comes from outside the county, and that FUSE and Washington Conservation Voters are the primary financial supporters of the recall effort.
Mr. French and Mr. Lamb also raised questions about the funding behind the recall effort, with $6,400 from FUSE, $2,500 from Conservation Voters and $4,000 from Planned Parenthood Washington Advocates all contributing to It said it violated the state’s $1,400 cap on recall commissions.
The Clean Water Accountability Coalition, the committee sponsoring the recall effort, asked PDC to lift the restrictions earlier this year, but later cited the association between Marshall’s campaign and the recall effort. withdrew the request just before it was rejected. They are concerned that loopholes could be created to further violate contribution limits. In July, before the recall was in full swing, Hughes donated $500 directly to Marshall.
“The problem, of course, is that the recall is intertwined with the actual contested election, in which case you can put all your money into the recall campaign, and if you can do that, you can remove the entire campaign restriction (system). We will be able to break through,” the PDC chief said. Doug North said in a written statement on October 3.
The fourth complaint filed against Spokane Firefighters Union President Randy Mahler and members who appeared in Marshall’s commercials alleges that Spokane Firefighters Union President Randy Marler and members of the union appeared in the Marshall’s commercial for allegedly accusing the city of supporting a political campaign prohibited by state law and city ordinance. It accuses its employees of exploiting government resources.
The ad, released Oct. 12, shows Ms. Marler and a group of firefighters in front of Fire Stations 5 and 11 discussing her platform’s theme of reducing wildfire risk and asking Ms. Marshall They are shown interacting and posing with Marshall while promoting their support for the event.
Marler said the PDC would not find any violation on the union’s part because the firefighters appear to be wearing union-owned uniforms with local logos and walking on public sidewalks in front of the station.
Mahler, who founded Citizens for Freedom and Labor to defend workers and like-minded groups, said French’s filing of the complaint so close to the election was a sign of concerns about his candidacy. He said that he thinks this is a sign that he is Marler said he resigned from his position on the PAC board three years ago to focus on his role with the union.
“I think he’s scared, and he should be,” Marler said. “Molly has run a great campaign and has a lot of support. I think it’s been a long time since he felt threatened.”
Lamb said he and French will ask the PDC to expedite the review and decision-making process on complaints, since the election is less than two weeks away and ballots have already been mailed.
More than 25% of ballots countywide had been returned as of Wednesday evening, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
French said he expressed concern despite the election being so close because “there are still ballots out there that allow us to know the truth.”
“We hope that both dark money, illegal campaign contributions, and distortions of public records will be uncovered and that voters will be informed so they can cast their votes with some degree of confidence” in order to make the right decisions. It gives you the information you need,” French said.
“Otherwise Spokane County will be controlled by those in power on the other side of the state,” he added.
The election is November 5th.
