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WA Sees Spike in Third Party Political Spending |
Posted: Wednesday, December 3, 2008
OLYMPIA, WA - A new report confirms what many Washington voters knew about the November election: political spending by third party groups skyrocketed this year. That’s according the state’s campaign finance watchdog – the Public Disclosure Commission. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.
It used to be the big spenders in campaigns were candidates and their political parties. But these days another force in politics has emerged – independent expenditure campaigns. These are partisan groups that run TV and radio ads and send mailers to people’s homes – but they aren’t allowed to coordinate with the candidate they support. This year, these groups – backed chiefly by labor unions and the home building industry – spent nearly 25-million dollars in Washington State.
Anderson: “It’s an explosion – a lot more money spent.”
Lori Anderson with the Public Disclosure Commission crunched the numbers. She says by way of comparison, four years ago third party groups spent about 8 million dollars in Washington State. In other words there was a three-fold increase. One key reason: a 2005 change in the law limited how much political parties can spend on independent campaigns. Now third-party groups are stepping in to fill the void. I’m Austin Jenkins in Olympia.
Copyright 2008 KPLU
On the web:
Public Disclosure Commission
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