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WA AG Bob Ferguson should come clean about donors
July 26, 2023 at 2:08 pm
In May, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson transferred $1.2
million of leftover money from his attorney general campaign fund to his
2024 gubernatorial campaign fund. He isn’t saying who those donors are
or how much they gave. (Ted S. Warren / AP, 2022)

In May, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson transferred $1.2
million of leftover money from his attorney general campaign fund to his
2024 gubernatorial campaign fund. He isn’t saying who those donors are
or how much they gave. (Ted S. Warren / AP, 2022)
By The Seattle Times editorial board
Finding legal technicalities and splitting hairs might be useful skills
for Washington’s top lawyer, but they are unbecoming in someone who
wants to be the state’s next governor.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson desperately wants to be the next governor,
but he’s not winning over any voters by exploiting a campaign finance
loophole.

In May, Ferguson transferred $1.2 million of leftover money from his
attorney general campaign fund to his 2024 gubernatorial campaign fund.
That’s completely legal as long as he gets permission in writing from
all of the donors who gave him the money.

What’s unseemly about the transfer is that Ferguson isn’t saying who
those donors are or how much they gave. He transferred the money mere
days before the state Public Disclosure Commission clarified that in the
spirit of transparent campaign finances, candidates should share that
information.

There’s good reason for transparency. If the names and amounts are
secret, candidates can double dip. Donors who gave money to the attorney
general campaign could now give to the gubernatorial campaign, and the
combined value could exceed the state’s $2,400 maximum individual
donation per race. Only Ferguson and the donor would know.

Ferguson is not the only candidate who is taking advantage of the timing
of their transfer. In fact, the PDC will hear a case on Thursday morning
involving a candidate out of Spokane who transferred funds in 2021. The
commission should rule that the new disclosure guidance applies
retroactively, or it could carve out a safe harbor for Ferguson and a
few others who sneaked in under the deadline. Whatever the PDC decides
Thursday, Ferguson should do the right thing and come clean.

To be clear, Ferguson is following the PDC guidance as it was the day he
transferred the money. He also says he will follow the guidance going
forward. But he’s quite comfortable slipping through the loophole of a
few days that allows him to hit up some of his supporters for more money
than they should give.

This is Ferguson’s chance to show that he is more than just a lawyer,
that he is a champion of public disclosure and open government. Lawyers
look for technicalities. Governors uphold the spirit and intent of the
law, too.

The Seattle Times editorial board members are editorial page editor Kate
Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Melissa Davis, Alex Fryer, Claudia Rowe,
Carlton Winfrey and William K. Blethen (emeritus).
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