Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Election 2014: Big Money, Big Issues

Elaine Thompson
/
AP Photo
James Myers of Seattle peers into the slot before dropping in his ballot at a ballot drop box Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, in Seattle.

We’re just about two weeks away from the 2014 election. It’s not a presidential election year, but there are several big issues on the ballot that have attracted big money to try to get your vote. Those issues include gun sales, class size and control of the state Senate.

Here’s a quick look at what’s on your ballot, what’s at stake and what it’s costing.

Big Money: The Top 5 PACs

The political action committee that has contributed the most money to this year's election so far is NextGen Climate Action, the Washington state PAC for California billionaire and climate activist Tom Steyer.

Next up is Washington Conservation Voters PAC, followed by the teacher’s union PAC.

Then there’s Enterprise Washington, a business-backed PAC. And rounding out the top five is the trial lawyers PAC. All of these political action committees have spent between $700,000 and $1 million.

Statewide Initiatives Drawing Big Money

There’s a clear leader in that money race — the campaign for Initiative 594to expand background checks for gun sales. It’s gotten $1.5 million in contributions from a bunch of well-known billionaires including the Gates, the Ballmers, Paul Allen and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer. It’s also getting money from former New York Mayor Bloomberg’s gun control control group. So far, that campaign has spent more than $7 million.

I-594 is followed by the Class Size Counts initiative backed by Washington’s teachers’ union. It has spent about $3 million.

What's The Money Buying?

In the case of the statewide initiatives, the money is going to TV ads. The background-check and class-size measures are both running a lot of TV.

If you’re talking about a state legislative district, it might be a TV ad on cable, definitely lots of mailers and targeted web-based ads.

We are seeing a lot of independent expenditure dollars flowing into the hot legislative districts. These IEs, as they are known, are not subject to contribution limits and they tend to do more of the negative campaigning.

And then there’s money being spent on the ground game. For instance, Washington Conservation Voters just reported $300,000 in spending on canvassing in key legislative districts.

Control Of State Senate At Stake

The top five candidates spending the most money are all vying for seats in the state Senate. Control of the state Senate is in play this year. Republicans have a narrow majority, and Democrats are trying to win back control.

Leading the list of top spenders is Republican incumbent Andy Hill of Redmond. He’s being challenged by Democrat Matt Isenhower. That’s more than a million-dollar race when you include all the independent or third-party spending that’s going on in that district in addition to what the candidates are spending.

We’re also seeing big cash outlays from the campaign committees and PACs associated with the four legislative caucuses – House and Senate Democrats and Republicans. Keep in mind all 98 Washington House members are up for reelection this year, as are about half of the 49 state senators.

Legislative Races

The vast majority of legislative districts are considered safe seats; actual swing districts are few and far between. But the top three state Senate races this year are arguably the 45th District on Seattle’s Eastside (the Hill/Isenhower race mentioned above), the 42nd District in Whatcom County (Republican Doug Ericksen vs. Democrat Seth Fleetwood) and the 28th District in Pierce County (Republican Steve O'Ban vs. Democrat Tami Green).

In all three of these districts, you have Republican incumbents defending their seats. All three performed well in the August primary, so it would seem Democrats have the harder job.

Right now, the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will hold onto or even expand their lead in the Washington Senate. But Democrats are bound and determined to win back control and Democrats are known for having a wicked ground game in this state.

Dueling Gun Measures

The gun issue has ignited passions on both sides. The campaign for Initiative 594, which aims to expand background checks to person-to-person gun sales and transfers, has outraised the pro-gun side 8 to 1. You’ve got heavy-hitters funding the effort, and recent polling shows I-594 is enjoying a 60-percent approval rating.

Initiative 591would prohibit the state from adopting a background check requirement that goes beyond what the federal government requires. Support for it has dropped to about 40 percent, according to the most recent Elway poll. We know from polling that background checks are popular. We also know Washington voters have a bit of a libertarian streak. So we shall see what happens. 

I-1351: Class Size Measure

The class size measure, Initiative 1351, would require the state to fund class size reductions in all grades K-12.  The Elway poll has it at 70 percent support with no active opposition campaign. But it comes with a hefty price tag of about $5 billion over the next four years.

The teacher’s union is behind this campaign, and the rallying cry is that Washington ranks 47th out of the 50 states when it comes to class size. But there are many in the education world who are not in support of this, especially since the state is already under court order to come up with an additional $3.5 billion over the next four years to fully fund public schools. This would more than double that liability. 

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Kirsten Kendrick hosts Morning Edition on KNKX and the sports interview series "Going Deep," talking with folks tied to sports in our region about what drives them — as professionals and people.