The 2008 race for Kirkland’s 45th District, Position 1 seat in the State House is among the five most expensive, according to the candidates’ latest campaign filings with the PDC.
Supplemented with donations from political action committees, the 45th District campaign between Democrat Roger Goodman and Republican Toby Nixon spent nearly $500,000, including more than $180,000 dispensed on their behalf by third party organizations. Combined, the total was the second-highest among the 98 races for the State House of Representatives. The other race in the 45th District between former Kirkland Mayor Larry Springer and Carnation resident Kevin Haistings for Position 2 yielded less than half the spending.
Overall, House Democrats had the upper hand in spending power with $7.7 million in campaign money and $600,000 in independent advocacy. House Republicans mustered $4.5 million and $840,000, respectively.
Raising record amounts of cash this year has come mostly from individuals, but a number of independent groups targeted spending on several close races, boosting expenditures into the stratosphere. Most of that money went toward direct mailings to voter’s homes. In the 45th, Goodman bested his challenger by spending more campaign money, but Nixon’s campaign bridged the gap with about $130,000 of support from an independent committee, People for Jobs Political Action Committee (PAC). Organized by an Issaquah-based business interest group Enterprise Washington, President Erin McCallum said her committee’s involvement here was because Nixon is a better advocate for economic issues through business-friendly legislation.
“We believe that a business-friendly state will be better for voters in the long-term,” she said. “We felt we could make a difference here.”
Goodman received considerable support from PACs representing members from the pro-choice group NARAL and the Washington Education Association, (WEA) the state’s largest public employee union. Both WEA PAC and the Washington State Democratic Party paid for last-minute mailings critical of Nixon’s positions on education funding and claims that Goodman supported a state income tax.
“We felt it was important for the voters to know that the candidates had taken positions in the past on issues like class-size funding,” said WEA PAC spokesperson Rich Wood. “Toby Nixon has voted in the past against smaller class sizes.”
Historically, the 45th District has seen several well-funded House races in the past. In 1998, Laura Ruderman set a record by spending $181,678 to unseat incumbent Bill Backlund. Defending her seat two years later against Toby Nixon, more records for campaign spending fell as she burned through $260,182 in her reelection and together they spent $486,228.
