>So, in the 18th, who’s breaking the law?

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That’s today’s quiz question: who is filing on time for the Public Disclosure Commission and who isn’t?

Well, let’s take a look, shall we?

Filing C-3’s (donation reports) were due on the 7th and 14th.

Who filed for those dates?

Well, Ann Rivers did. Brandon Vick did. Dennis Kampe KINDA did. But he missed his June 7 filing… and then got it in a little late. He filed a C-4 on June 7, but no C-3.

What about the rest of the candidates? Who’s breaking the law?

Anthony Bittner? Check. He hasn’t filed a thing since April 27th.

Jon Russell? Check. He was supposed to file C-3’s on the 14th, according to this:

June 1 Begin filing C-3 reports weekly, each Monday, for deposits made during
previous 7 days (Monday thru Sunday)

Russell’s filing manually in an effort to make it a little more difficult to find out that he’s paying off congressional debt with state representative campaign funds… something of a definite no-no. And, of course, the second he’s able to find enough suckers to get him up over $10,000, (You know, the same $10,000 he claimed to have already raised to the PCO’s on May 22nd? THAT $10,000?) he’s going to have to retroactively file his entire campaign electronically.

But then, Russell’s never been one about true transparency, has he?

And where’s his filing for the 14th?

No where.

Hiding hings as a part of your campaign isn’t all that great of a strategy. Paying for things with state funds that are prohibited for a federal race… also not cool.

Paying someone (Gary Wyram) to do hit pieces under the guise of disinterested bystander for We The People without him indicating that he’s being paid to do it?

Typically Russell. And typically unethical and scummy.

Cross-posted at Jon Russell Watch.
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>Brandon Vick and the truth.

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On May 22, I was an onlooker at the 18th District PCO meeting at the GOP headquarters in Hazel Dell.

It was a meeting that initially was planned to be part of the “winnowing process.” Best known for the place where Jon Russell lied about his wife’s job (He told us all she was a “physician.” She is, in fact, a “physician’s assistant.”) an allegation I had been hearing about Russell as far back as his abortive congressional campaign, but had never heard myself… until that meeting.

But one of the questions asked of all the candidates present (Ann Rivers, Jon Russell and Brandon Vick) was this: how much money has your campaign put together?

Rivers, now showing over $37,000, indicated that she’d put together $33,000 or so at the time.

Vick indicated $8,100. Russell, “about $10,000.”

The problem is this:

Vick lied.

At the time he was standing in front of us, according to his just filed PDC report, he had raised $6,055. He overstated the amount he’d raised by 25%. (As of this writing, he shows a total from all sources of $6,730.)

Now, I can see fudging the figure a little. But 25%? Why would he lie to all of the PCO’s about how much money he had raised?

In fact, after the meeting was over, I even asked him: Brandon, you raised $8,100? After you only raised $300 in all of April?

He told me that things were looking up, or had picked up… or some such. Well, given that at the moment in question, he had only raised $440 to the 22nd of May, that was something of an increase over all of April.

But it wasn’t $8,100.

I recently took him to task for some of his campaign language. He hasn’t responded.

I like Brandon. Always have. But in reality, he has only raised $3,865 in cash. And you have to do better than that. If you can’t do better than that, then you really ought to get out, because anything else is a delusion… especially when you have to lie about it.
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>A quick question for Brandon Vick: what makes you say this:

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It all starts in the halls of our capitol and in this race I am the only candidate that has the courage, conviction and energy needed to win these battles.

Having been actually blessed (or cursed, depending on the perspective) with having spent 6 years in those very halls, I’m just wondering: how do you figure?

How do you quantify this? What do you base it on?

Are you a combat veteran or something? Do you have any prior elected experience that you haven’t told us about?

Or is this just typical electioneering bloviation?

Serving as a legislator really doesn’t bear any resemblance to walking point for a dismounted Stryker platoon in Kanduhar. So, how is it that you somehow view your “courage,” or “conviction” or “energy” as superior in any way to anyone else?

Can you help me with that? And if you answer this question, I’ll certainly post it up… but as a presumptive constituent, I really want to know.

Thanks!
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>Is it time for Russell and Vick to withdraw in the 18th?

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In reviewing the most recent PDC’s for fundraising, we see the following numbers of note:

So, what we have here is Rivers having raised about $28,000 or so, Russell (who filed manually) at $4500 or so, and Brandon Vick at $2750 raised (The rest of the money showing is in-kind and loans.)
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According to the records, Brandon Vick raised $300 in the month of April. Shannon Barnett’s endorsement availed him nothing.
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Russell, abortive Congressional candidate, raised $1524 for the month of April.
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People, your horse is so dead that the corpse has walked away. Beating it any further… I dunno… just seems like an exercise in futility.
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For your political futures, the one thing I would think you’d want to avoid is humiliation. But that’s what it seems you’re facing.
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You can’t win a campaign on $300 months. You can’t. And you can’t do much better on $1500 months, either.
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But hey, that’s the beauty of our system. So, if’n you’re of a mind, knock yourselves out.

Just sayin‘
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Cross posted at Jon Russell Watch.

>Interesting goin’s ons on the 18th.

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Two candidates have announced their withdrawal from the 18th District race; one a total surprise, the other more or less expected. The question is this: what does it all mean?

Shannon Barnett has discovered that Jaime Herrera has no coat tails and carrying her water like the 13th Amendment hadn’t been ratified gets you precisely no where. Hatred by itself cannot be a motivation to run for office.

Robert Dean has apparently discovered that Ann Rivers shares many of his views, concerns and experiences and has left the race, endorsing Ann Rivers on the way out.

That leaves Rivers, Bittner, Russell, and Vick.

Ann Rivers appears to have run a technically and strategically flawless campaign. She’s put together an endorsement list that reads like a “Who’s Who” of political and business leaders from the area. She has a history of fighting for conservative causes, and has elected conservative candidates in the past. Well connected, pragmatic, an experienced grasp of the issues with an openness and understanding of the issues unmatched in the 18th. Her fund-raising has been astounding: she has amassed $30,000 plus.

Anthony Bittner is an interesting case. He just turned 18, but he lacks most anything you would expect in the successful candidate: experience, education, understanding, situational awareness and money raising skills. He shows no endorsements.

Giving credit where it’s due, however, Bittner has raised more money than two older candidates during the short time of his candidacy, including a failed former congressional candidate. Even though much of his money is from family members and none of it appears to be from within the district except for that, it’s still spendable and it’s $3850. But there has to be much more to a candidate than criticizing the Constitution.

Brandon Vick has difficulty raising money to date; though the updates are due tomorrow, Brandon shows that he’s put together $2450 so far. Vick was the “beneficiary” of Barnett’s departure; surely that stung Jon Russell the most. But Vick’s positions are pie in the sky, lacking the pragmatic understanding of the reality of Olympia… a pandering set of concepts that will appeal to the far right.

He shows impractical idealism with impossible goals that no freshman can achieve or hope to achieve. Jumping up and down and yelling “we need to do A,B, and C” won’t get it done. And new members of the House provide zero leadership… in anything. You’ve got to pay your dues to get there, and you’ve got o pay your dues once you show up. He shows no endorsements.

That leaves us with Russell.

Jon Russell Watch covers him, but the Cliff’s Notes version is that Russell has done an abysmal job as a Washougal City councilman; he did an abysmal job in a congressional campaign, and he’s doing an abysmal job running a campaign for state representative. His records indicate that he’s put together $3127.

He’s made misrepresentations about others, and he has refused to address the issues brought to his attention… because, well, they’re problematic.

Bittner will naturally appeal to the very young voter as sort of a boutique candidate… but the young voter won’t be turning out, particularly in a primary. Russell and Vick will be fighting over and split the same universe of voters. Rivers will get the majority of the women’s vote, independents and all but the far right.

As the natural winnowing process continues, for a variety of personal and realistic reasons, one wonders: when will more drop out?

Realistically, do candidates who’ve raised less then $4000 of donor cash have any chance in this race?

Is their purpose to get elected… or to keep others from getting elected?

We see Dino Rossi supporters here locally throwing a fit over other candidates having the temerity to stay in in the event the Great Dino deigns to announce. One wonders: have these same people made any effort to reduce the number of candidates in the 18th?

Yup. One wonders.
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