(I) denotes incumbent

* Washington State Public Disclosure laws require that candidates who spent more than $5,000 on a prior campaign or expect to spend $5,000 on the current campaign must file campaign finance reports with the PDC. Candidates who do not meet either of these criteria must still register with the PDC and file a personal financial report, but are not required to file campaign financial reports.
—

With the Nov. 2 general election only three weeks away, some local candidates are reporting increases in fundraising and expenditures, while others show little change.  This report brings you up to date as of Oct. 12, with the latest information from the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) on the various candidates’ campaign finances.  Additional details on other local races are also available at that link.

In the mayoral race, James Smith has almost doubled his war chest since our last report (Sept.19), while opponent Christine Frizzell has picked up a more modest $2,000. Smith also leads in spending since our last report.

For Council Position 1, Nick Coelho reports total donations just shy of $12,000, gaining more than $6,000 since our last report, while his opponent Shirley Sutton reports modest increases in both (note that because Sutton continues to indicate that she plans to raise less than $5,000 she is exempt from filing report with the PDC, but has been providing figures anyway). Council Position 2 shows no changes by either candidate, although Patrick Decker continues to report expenditures of slightly more than $1,200.  The biggest fundraising for the council races is reported by Position 3 candidate Josh Binda, with more than $23,000 in total contributions, a gain of almost $6,000 since our last report. His opponent Lisa Utter’s numbers are unchanged from our last report.

The accompanying table details the figures reported by each campaign to the PDC as of Oct. 12. Information in this table comes from the Public Disclosure Commission and the Washington Secretary of State’s VoteWA web page.

For readers interested in following the money in more depth, the link in the right column opens the candidate’s detailed PDC reporting page with information on individual contributors, amounts each contributed, and how/where the money has been spent. Look here to see the breakdown of contributions from individuals vs businesses vs PACs, detailed spending records, and more.

With the election only three weeks away, this will be Lynnwood Today’s last report on campaign finances. Interested readers can refer to the Public Disclosure Commission web site for subsequent changes in fundraising and spending.

— By Larry Vogel