Sawant continues to lead in Seattle council campaign contributions
May 16, 2019, 6:08 AM | Updated: 10:56 am
Kshama Sawant. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
(Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
Incumbent District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant continues to lead all candidates in total campaign contributions, having raised over $102,000.
RELATED: Money flows as race for Sawant’s D3 council seat heats up
RELATED: Candidates running for Seattle City Council in 2019
The bulk of Sawant’s contributions continue to come from both outside her district, and outside the city. A total of 46 percent of her donations come from outside Seattle city limits, while just 20 percent of listed addresses for contributors are inside District 3.
Digging into her individual donations, many contributors are sending money from out of Washington state entirely, residing in Minnesota, New York, Illinois, and California among other states.
Following close behind her in the race for District 3 is pot shop owner Logan Bowers, who has raised over $82,000 in contributions, thanks in large part to the city’s newly minted Democracy Voucher program.
Bowers was recently given the OK to exceed the $75,000 cap in voucher contributions, triggered by Sawant clearing that figure in April.
Even with the pair of D3 fundraising heavy hitters, though, it’s District 4 that actually boasts the most total donations of any race.
Candidates in the district have netted over $282,000 in contributions, beating District 3 by over $30,000. Top fundraisers in D4 are led by local organizer Shaun Scott (over $74,000), and Alex Pedersen (over $71,000), a former aide to Councilmember Tim Burgess.
It’s also worth noting that 11 candidates are running in D4, versus the seven in D3. That discrepancy has District 3 averaging over $35,000 in donations per candidate, outpacing District 4 by roughly $10,000.
Incumbents in this year’s council race haven’t found quite the same fundraising success as Sawant, with Lisa Herbold (District 2) and Debora Juarez (District 5) raising $55,722 and $31,615 respectively. That said, Sawant is also the only incumbent not participating in the Democracy Voucher program, affording her fewer limitations on donations she can receive.
The top five candidates in total contributions are spread out across three districts.
The deadline to file for a run at city council is Friday, May 17. As of publishing, 58 total candidates are registered.
