Over the years, Attorney General Bob Ferguson has raised a lot of money. But a Democrat running against him is unhappy with how he spends it on his campaign for governor.
The government told Ferguson last year that using millions of dollars in extra campaign funds he raised years ago in his run for governor this year might be against the law.
In April, he gave $750,000 of that extra money to the Washington State Democratic Party in exchange for helping his campaign for governor and other Democratic campaigns by, among other things, putting Ferguson’s name on materials to get people to the polls.
Republican state Sen. Mark Mullet didn’t agree with this gift and complained to the State Public Disclosure Commission on Friday.
“It’s fine for people to donate money to the state Democratic Party out of their surplus account,” said Mullet, “but you can’t do it in return, in quid pro quo, for something else.”
In the August gubernatorial primary race, Mullet is Ferguson’s main Democratic opponent, but Mullet is having a hard time keeping up.
New studies show that Mullet is a long way behind Ferguson. He’s also behind former Congressman Dave Reichert, who is the top Republican. Two weeks ago, the Seattle Times said that Mullet only had about $50,000 left to spend before the Aug. 6 primary. He is still trying to raise money, though.
Douglas Mullet’s report from last week was called a “desperate attack from a dying campaign” by Ferguson’s campaign in a statement to KUOW.
“Mark Mullet’s campaign is broke and polling in the single digits,” Ferguson’s campaign manager, Bayley Burgess, said Monday.
Stephen Reed, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said Ferguson’s contribution was fine. Campaigns can only give money to the state party from their extra funds. Reed said that Ferguson’s donation was for a “buy-in” and a coordinated campaign that will focus on “getting out the vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot across the state.”
There is still more work to be done on Mullet’s report, according to Kim Bradford, who is the deputy executive director of the Public Disclosure Commission. It will either start a case or be sent back once they do.
Two weeks ago, Mullet also filed complaints against Ferguson for asking Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to move his name up on the August ballot. He did this in response to a scheme by a conservative organizer to get a man named Robert Ferguson to run for governor as a Democrats.
“This would be, I think, unethical behavior for any lawyer in our state,” said Mullet. “But it’s really bad when it’s your attorney general, who holds the highest legal office in the state.”
Mullet said Ferguson abused his power and broke the rules of the Washington State Bar Association when he called Hobbs on May 13 and told him to change the order of the ballots so Ferguson would be mentioned before the other Bob Fergusons. Both of those candidates dropped out after Ferguson asked the police to charge them with breaking a law that says people can’t try to trick voters.
