A little left in the tank: What happens to extra campaign cash?

The campaign is over, the signs have been put away, but there’s still a little money left in the coffers. There is some question as to what candidates are doing with those extra dollars.

Under state law the campaigns can give the money back to donors, give it to their political party or donate it to charity. They also have the option of using the surplus for ‘office related expenses.’

“Some of these things do surprise me. They don’t seem to be, to me, the kind of things that were in mind as being office related expenses,” says Toby Nixon, President of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

From local to state politicians, office-holders from both parties are accused of doing “questionable” things with their leftover campaign funds in a recent article by the Associated Press. For example, Republican Representative Mike Armstrong of Wenatchee spent $7,000 on a new wardrobe.

“It’s one thing to be in an occupation that requires you to wear a uniform […] but that’s simply not the case with legislators,” Nixon says.

Joe McDermott, a Democrat on the King County Council, spent $5,600 for tuition at Harvard. Nixon says unless McDermott was taking a course on computers or brushing up on his communication skills, the expense does not seem ‘office related.’

“That to me sounds like it’s so far removed that it would be hard to justify,” says Nixon.

Among the other expenses disclosed: $1,000 for Mariners tickets, $2,000 for a pair of brand new iPads, and more than $700 worth of liquor. A couple of candidates made charity donations to groups from which their own spouses drew a salary.

“I’ve run for office many times and […] never even occurred to me to spend it for the kind of things that are mentioned in the article,” says Nixon.

According to Nixon, a big part of the problem is that while the state’s Public Disclosure Commission is required to make campaign statements available, they do not have to make sure they are legitimate. They only investigate if someone asks them to.

“Sometimes it takes many, many months after the complaint is filed before they even get around to doing an initial investigation,” Nixon says.

He gives an example of a complaint filed in connection with the Kirkland City Council race. It was given to the P.D.C. a year ago, but because of staffing and budget cuts they are just now looking into it.

“The legislature likes it that way. As much as advocates for accountability and openness go to the legislature and say that the people demand these investigatory functions be properly funded, it doesn’t happen,” says Nixon.

He does not believe the candidates are trying to commit nefarious deeds. Nixon says they are given too little guidance about what they are allowed to spend the money on, and there is too little oversight.

Still, he says, voters need to know where the money is going.

“I think it’s a big deal for the people who are represented by those individual legislators and expecting them to do the right thing,” Nixon says.