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Saturday, July 15, 2006

Cantwell pays former opponent $8,000 a month
Campaign manager makes only a little more

By NEIL MODIE
P-I REPORTER

A vocal former opponent's silence is important enough to Sen. Maria Cantwell's re-election effort to pay him $8,000 a month -- nearly as much as her campaign manager -- to join her campaign staff.

The Cantwell campaign initially refused to say last week how much it would pay Mark Wilson to drop his Democratic primary challenge to the senator and his harsh criticism of her opposition to immediate U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.

But campaign manager Matt Butler issued a statement Thursday disclosing Wilson's salary.

It isn't much lower than Butler's salary, which, according to Cantwell's quarterly Federal Election Commission report, was $26,192 for the first three months of 2006, or $8,731 a month.

"Mark's experience as a candidate, military veteran, Teamster, progressive activist and small businessman make him an ideal person for the Cantwell campaign's outreach director," Butler's statement said. "As a small businessman, Mark has put his company on hold to work for the final four months of the campaign." He will be paid the monthly equivalent of $96,000 a year.

State Republican Party Chairwoman Diane Tebelius, in a statement Friday, called it "highly unusual to pay an outreach director almost the same amount as the top position in a Senate race. It also reveals a 'money-buys-everything' mentality for the Cantwell campaign."

Cantwell is facing a tough election challenge from Republican Mike McGavick, a multimillionaire former chief executive of Safeco Corp.

The senator still has a remaining Democratic primary opponent -- Hong Tran, a Seattle legal-services lawyer and Iraq war opponent, as well as three general election challengers besides McGavick: Libertarian Party candidate Bruce Guthrie, Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon and independent Robin Adair.

P-I reporter Neil Modie can be reached at 206-448-8321 or neilmodie@seattlepi.com.
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