If you’re a pro-business lobbyist in Olympia right now, you’re eying the likely outcome of elections for the Legislature with trepidation, if not outright anxiety. Some of the business lobby’s closest allies in the Democratic majorities in the statehouse are headed for the exit, and some of its favorite Republicans are looking endangered.
So we were not surprised to see a fresh infusion of nearly $200,000 flow into the coffers of the Jobs PAC, which is the fundraising conduit for the pro-business political operation known as Enterprise Washington. Among the checks: $70,000 from Hospitals For a Healthy Future, the political arm of the Washington Hospital Association; $50,000 from the Washington Beverage Association, AKA Big Soda; $35,000 from Washingtonians Win, AKA Maverick Gaming, the owner of most of the non-tribal casinos in the state; $30,000 from the Associated General Contractors, AKA Big Concrete; and still more from the garbage haulers of the Washington Refuse and Recycling Association.
Those are all organizations with good reasons to view the leftward shift in the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate with real alarm, and motivations to spend money to slow that movement. For example, the hospitals are staring down a possible reload of that medical mergers bill. Big Soda and the garbage people are likely in the crosshairs of the third iteration of the recycling revamp. Maverick Gaming was the big loser when lawmakers gave Native American casinos a monopoly on sports betting a few years back. None of those situations are likely to improve for the players in question if the Legislature lurches further left.
Overall, Jobs PAC has raised $1.3 million this year, which puts it in the second tier of committees behind the major initiative campaigns. Its biggest benefactor is the Washington Association of Realtors at $200,000, followed by the hospitals at $140,000, oil companies Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum at $100,000 apiece, and the combative Building Industry Association of Washington, also at $100,000.
They’ve spent more than $640,000 thus far, mostly on trying to influence various races in the primary. Its goals, roughly: Keep Democrats from achieving a supermajority that would allow them to radically alter the business climate, and support moderates in both parties over candidates further to the left or right. Their record in the primary was mixed.
Brace yourself, because we’re about to get down in the weeds of Enterprise Washington’s nesting-doll network of PACs.
First, the losers, some of which we broke down in our piece on the dismal fate of moderates in the primary in general.
Via the sub-PAC Citizens for Legislative Accountability, Jobs PAC spent $93,000 defending first-term GOP Rep. Greg Cheney against a primary challenge from conservative Brad Benton, the son of the bombastic former Sen. Don Benton. Cheney got less than 22% of the vote. Jobs PAC is unlikely to support Democrat Adrian Cortes for the seat because of the aforementioned supermajority issue. Benton has reportedly been making overtures to the center.
Another sub-PAC, East King County Jobs, spent $28,000 supporting moderate Democrat Jason Ritchie for an open seat in the 5th District freed up by the shuffle created by Sen. Mark Mullet’s departure. The district includes Issaquah and a wide swath of exurban and rural King County. Ritchie ran a slow fourth in the primary, and progressive Victoria Hunt looks likely to cruise past Republican Mark Hargrove.
Yet another sub-PAC, Sound Jobs, spent a judicious $9,000 in support of Yvonne Gallardo-Van Ornam’s challenge to vulnerable first-term Democratic Rep. Clyde Shavers in the Whidbey Island-centered 10th District. Despite aggressive support from House Republicans, the Arlington City Councilmember ran third in the primary behind MAGA candidate Carrie Kennedy, who doesn’t look up to taking out Shavers in the swing district.
Now for the winners, at least for the moment:
Jobs PAC’s biggest spend, again via Sound Jobs, was $117,000 on incumbent Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, also in the 10th. Muzzall, who is widely beloved in the business community for his genial, even-keeled approach, finished ahead of Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair but pulled in less than 50% of the vote against two Democrats, which is never promising for an incumbent. That one figures to be a nail-biter in November, so look for the PAC and other players on both sides to spend heavily in the coming weeks.
In the neighboring 39th, which is mostly rural parts of Snohomish and Skagit counties, the PAC spent $20,000 to defend first-term incumbent Republican Rep. Sam Low against arch-conservative Robert Sutherland, whom Low bounced in 2022. The trick was getting past faux-Democrat Zephaniah Borynack, who was apparently planted in the field by Sutherland’s camp. Low came through the primary with 38% of the vote and looks strong in an all-Republican rematch with Sutherland.
In Southwest Washington’s 17th District, a Jobs PAC subsidiary called Southwest Priorities put $45,000 behind Vancouver Republican Rep. Paul Harris’ bid to retain a Senate seat currently held by the GOP. Harris faces White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler, who has outside support of her own from Senate Democrats in a district reshaped by redistricting.
In the 26th District on the Kitsap Peninsula, South Sound Future spent $80,000 defending incumbent Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, in a nasty intra-party battle. Caldier got 32% of the vote, finishing well ahead of the more conservative challenger.
Elsewhere in intra-party fights, Citizens For Progress, yet another sub-PAC spent $24,000 defending Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, against a challenge from the left. (Our Sara Kassabian broke this race down last week.) Springer finished just 3% ahead of union organizer Melissa Demyan, so expect more PAC money in this one.
And finally, Jobs PAC, via still another sub-PAC, People For Jobs, spent nearly $80,000 in aid of preventing Democrats from flipping the newly redrawn 14th District in the Yakima Valley. Most of the money went to support veteran Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, who got 58% of the primary vote versus Democrat Maria Beltran. As we noted a while back, Democrats argue that seemingly lopsided result actually foreshadows a close race in November. Expect an ocean of money from both sides.
This article also appeared in the author’s political blog, The Washington Observer.
