3 governor candidates skirt campaign rules

The three major candidates for governor have failed to fully account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations, as required by Washington election rules.

Dino Rossi, Christine Gregoire and Ron Sims have not reported the occupations or employers of at least $590,000 in donations through May, according to reports filed last week with the state campaign finance watchdog agency, the Public Disclosure Commission.

While the latest data submitted to the PDC do reveal political trends, such as which special interests are willing to pay for influence, the reporting omissions mean voters can't get a complete picture of who is paying for the campaigns.

"It's a fundamental piece of a candidate's accountability," said Edwin Bender, director of The Institute on Money in State Politics, a non-partisan watchdog group.

"The campaign contribution list is a compilation of raw data that says: 'These are the people that support me, and you can expect me to be listening to them very closely.'

"That's a very important piece of information for voters to have."

The PDC requires candidates to provide that information for any individual donor contributing more than $100.

Rossi has failed to provide such information for roughly $300,000 of his more than $2 million in contributions. Sims inadequately reported the sources of more than 20 percent of his nearly $1 million in contributions. Gregoire has inadequately accounted for at least $89,000 of her more than $2 million.

Each campaign said it is trying to fill in the holes. Oftentimes, they said, they'll receive a check by mail that does not include the information. Then they have to try to track down the donors.

"We're in the process of calling them all," said Mary Lane, Rossi's spokeswoman. "It takes a long time, though."

Sims' campaign manager, Tim Hatley, said his office has assigned two volunteers to collecting that information daily.

"That's probably the most challenging part about making sure your documents are as up to date as possible," he said.

But, for all three candidates, such "requests" date back as far as several weeks after they filed their candidacies last fall and winter.

Bender said statewide campaigns are sophisticated enough to better comply with the rules.

"They probably have the information and a whole lot more in their database," he said. "To not have good compliance does make you wonder if they're simply not wanting to comply."

PDC auditors monitor such reporting within "periodic" reviews of overall compliance, said Doug Ellis, the agency's spokesman. There is no deadline for gathering the employment information, said Ellis.

He could not recall a candidate ever being punished for failing to do so. Rather, if auditors notice a substantial problem, he said, they would likely contact the campaign directly.

State law allows individuals, unions, businesses and political action committees to donate up to $1,350 to gubernatorial candidates per election -- with the September primary and the November general contests counting as separate elections.

Some find ways around that limit. Leaders of special interests and companies can urge members, colleagues and subordinates to donate to a given candidate, although they may not require or reimburse employees' donations.

That's why the employment info is important, Ellis said. "Without occupations or employers, you wouldn't see the overall financial impact that that corporation or union had on the individual campaign."

The missing data reflect a fraction of the more than $5.3 million raised so far by the three. And those gifts offer insights into each campaign, as well as the political scene.

For example, doctors appear to be following through on several years of vowing to substantially increase their political activism. Faced with double-digit growth in malpractice insurance premiums, many doctors have pledged to elect politicians who will approve controversial limits in malpractice damages.

Individual doctors already have donated $14,100 more to gubernatorial candidates than they did during the entire 2000 gubernatorial campaign season. (Virtually all sectors will likely give more this year, because it is an open race for governor.) Through last month, doctors donated more than $71,000 to candidates for governor.

Still, doctors' giving is one example of the occasional phenomenon that the political establishment doesn't quite jibe with the rank and file. Last month, the Washington Medical Association endorsed Rossi, a former state senator from Sammamish. But individuals identifying themselves as doctors or physicians have given Attorney General Gregoire nearly $22,000, more than $5,000 more than Rossi.

Trial lawyers, perennially a major player in campaign finance, vehemently oppose malpractice caps. And, as usual, they've backed up their agenda with cash.

Individual lawyers from all specialties gave more than $433,000 to gubernatorial candidates through May. That's an increase of nearly 60 percent over the 2000 election season. Not surprisingly, nearly 72 percent of that went to Gregoire, well connected to the industry and a longtime opponent of liability limits. That's more than 12 times the money individual lawyers have given Rossi, who supports limits.

Here's a look at how the campaigns have fared most recently and overall:

Gregoire

The Democratic attorney general picked up the pace in collections last month, boosting her war chest by 26.5 percent in May alone -- or nearly $500,000, to a total of nearly $2.19 million. About $130,000 was collected at a luncheon with former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, said Tim Zenk, Gregoire's campaign manager.

But Gregoire also spent nearly $370,000 last month -- much of it on polling and fund raising.

Overall, lawyers rank top among Gregoire's individual supporters -- after retirees. At more than $300,000, donations from individual lawyers amount to more than 14 percent of Gregoire's overall war chest.

Gregoire's most generous backers also include homemakers, consultants and business executives.

Teachers have favored Gregoire by a long shot. She's collected more than $14,100 from educators. That's nearly triple their contributions to Sims, and almost six times their donations to Rossi. The state's largest teachers union endorsed Gregoire earlier this year, and will expect the next governor to restore voter-approved teacher pay raises and school spending, which state politicians suspended to help fill a budget shortfall.

Six years after the multibillion-dollar national tobacco lawsuit, law firms that Gregoire helped hire for the case have remained loyal. For example, folks with connections to one such firm in South Carolina were among her earliest donors, and have given her nearly $17,000.

Overall, more than $620,000 -- or more than one quarter of her overall war chest -- has come from outside Washington, far more than her competitors'. New York, California and Massachusetts ranked top.

Rossi

Rossi, a Republican, had a slower May than Gregoire, but remains competitive overall. He collected more than $282,000 last month, boosting his total so far by nearly 15 percent to almost $2.18 million.

But, because Gregoire is spending more quickly, Rossi has the most money on hand. Records show he has about $1.5 million in the bank, more than $315,000 more than Gregoire.

Overall, retirees also rank first among Rossi's individual supporters. Unidentified occupations rank second, then homemakers and business executives.

Rossi is a real estate executive, and is favored by contractors, developers, real estate agents and individuals from similar industries, who have donated more than $100,000.

He's endorsed by the Washington Farm Bureau. Individual farmers, foresters, orchardists and those in similar work have followed suit with more than $40,000 in donations.

So far, Rossi has received less than $77,000 from out-of-state donors -- a relative pittance. But that won't likely last long. Pundits expect he will seven-figure support from national Republican groups later this election season.

Sims

The King County executive trails his competitors both in terms of his bottom line and pace. He collected more than $85,000 last month, increasing his total by less than 10 percent to nearly $956,000.

Overall, among the Democrat's individual donors -- after reports left blank -- lawyers rank top. Sims has collected nearly $45,000 from individual lawyers. Retirees, business heads, consultants and engineers follow.

But, generally speaking, public employees gave more. Some of Sims' strongest support has come from labor, although the state labor council deadlocked over whether to endorse Sims or Gregoire, and the largest state employees' union backed Gregoire.

Individual employees of local and state government agencies have contributed more than $65,600, or nearly 7 percent, of Sims' war chest. County employees are responsible for more than $46,000 of that, Sound Transit workers for another $4,100.

More than 26 percent, or $250,000, of his contributions came from outside Washington. Virginia, California and the District of Columbia top that list.

For more information, contact the Public Disclosure Commission at www.pdc.wa.gov or call the toll free telephone number 877-601-2828.

P-I reporter Angela Galloway can be reached at 206-448-8333 or angelagalloway@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to