June 11, 2008 - 12:41pm
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Rossi's Money is from Washingtonians, Gregoire's Money is from Party Bosses and Out-of-State Special Interests

Rossi's Money is from Washingtonians, Gregoire's Money is from Party Bosses and Out-of-State Special Interests

 

Rossi Leads in In-State, Regular Donor Fundraising

 

Redmond, WA - After more than three years of campaigning, Christine Gregoire has raised nearly $6.8 million dollars. What her campaign won't advertise is the fact that a large portion of her money comes from out-of-state special interests and the Washington State Democratic Party.

"Christine Gregoire has raised a lot of money for her campaign. Unfortunately a lot of it is coming from people she isn't elected to represent as governor," said Jill Strait, Rossi spokesperson. "With over 26 percent of her campaign contributions coming from out-of-state special interests and state party checks, it's clear she does not have the type of grassroots support she claims."

A closer look at Gregoire's fundraising numbers:

State Party Money

  • Gregoire raised $785,000 in May, however $200,000 of that came from the Washington State Democratic Party. According to her PDC reports, she has received a total of $695,704 from the Washington State Democratic Party. This equals 10.2 percent of her total campaign dollars.

 

  • Rossi raised $701,000 in May, with $40,000 coming from the Washington State Republican Party. The $40,000 from May is the only party contribution Rossi has received.

 

Conclusion: Rossi actually outraised Gregoire among individual donors during the month of May - $661,000 to $585,000. Gregoire takes money from the state party in order to inflate her fundraising totals.  

Out-of-State Money

  • According to Gregoire's May PDC report, she has received at least $1,085,444 in itemized out-of-state contributions. This equals 16 percent of her total dollars raised. Her actual out-of-state numbers are undoubtedly much higher because PDC reports do not itemize donations under $25, so our numbers only include publicly known donors.

 

  • By comparison, as of the end of May, Rossi has received $120,553 in out-of-state contributions. This equals 2.34 percent of his total dollars raised.

 

Conclusion: Rossi's campaign is actually supported by the people and businesses in Washington state. In fact, if you subtract out-of-state dollars and contributions from state parties from both candidates' fundraising totals as of June 8th, Rossi has already raised more money than Gregoire - $5.188 million to $5.124 million.

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BRYAN BISSELL is a PolitickerWA.com Reporter and can be reached via email at bryan.bissell@politickerwa.com.