While they’re small potatoes compared to federal and statewide campaigns, county-level elections often draw thousands of dollars in contributions and spending.
Lewis County sheriff candidate Tracy Murphy has been the biggest fundraiser of any county-level candidate so far this election cycle. At the same time, incumbent Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer advanced through the primary with the most votes despite raising and spending much less than his top opponent and even less than his own 2022 campaign, when he raised more than any other commissioner candidate.
Fundraising among candidates for Lewis County auditor were relatively balanced with all three candidates raising and spending between $5,000 and $10,000.
Possibly the biggest disconnect between fundraising and votes captured was in the Lewis County coroner primary, where incumbent Coroner Warren McLeod captured more than 50% of the vote without raising or spending a dime.
On the contrary, his biggest competitor, Jessica Stickley, raised more than $10,000 and earned 27.5% of the vote.
Lewis County commissioner
Brummer, a Republican, advanced through the August primary with a slim lead over his closest opponent, fellow Republican and Lewis County Public Utility District Commissioner Michael Hadaller, with the two earning 33.6% and 31.67% of the vote, respectively.
Brummer did so while raising roughly one-fifth the amount of money as Hadaller and spending even less.
Third place candidate and Lewis County Democrats Chair Zac Eckstein was the second highest fundraiser behind Hadaller and ahead of Brummer.
According to the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), which tracks campaign finances for state and local political campaigns, Brummer has raised $6,390.88 and spent a little over half of that at $3,830.01. Records also show Brummer receiving his last campaign contribution back in June, more than a month before the primary election.
The records also show the bulk of Brummer’s fundraising — $5,200 — coming from donations from private individuals, while $840 came from small cash contributions and another $350 from Brummer himself. Brummer currently has $3,830.01 left on hand to spend in the general election before any additional fundraising.
The fundraising from Brummer is significantly lower than his effort in 2022, when he won the commissioner seat for the first time. In that contest, Brummer was the biggest fundraiser among commissioner candidates, bringing in around $26,000 in contributions.
By comparison Hadaller has raised $30,219.88 for his campaign, which includes just over $4,000 in in-kind contributions, most of which are from Hadaller himself. Of the total fundraised, he has spent $28,312.89. That leaves him with just over $2,000 left on hand moving forward before any additional fundraising.
According to the PDC, Hadaller has contributed significantly to his own campaign, with cash and in-kind contributions accounting for roughly $15,000. Contributions from individuals make up the next largest sum of nearly $10,000 in contributions. A total of $3,700 in contributions came from businesses, including some East Lewis County staples such as D9 Country Market.
Hadaller's fundraising total for the race is significantly above the roughly $19,000 he raised for his 2022 campaign to become Lewis County Public Utility District commissioner. In that race, he also contributed significantly to the campaign himself to the tune of more than $16,000.
Eckstein, who earned 21.5% of the vote in the primary and did not advance to the general election, raised $10,784.26 while spending $8,282.19. Independent progressive candidate Kyle Wheeler raised just over $4,000 and spent just around $3,600, while East Lewis County newcomer Tim Toerber did not report any campaign contributions.
Lewis County sheriff
It's perhaps no surprise that, just like the commissioner race, the two biggest fundraisers in the sheriff’s race are also the two candidates advancing to the general election.
Lewis County Sheriff's Office Special Services Chief Gabriel Frase and former Centralia Police Sgt. Tracy Murphy blew the fundraising competition out of the water ahead of the August primary.
The two not only significantly out fundraised the other sheriff’s candidates — they were the two biggest fundraisers among all candidates for county office.
Frase eked out the win over Murphy in the primary by roughly two points, with Frase earning 36.14% of the vote to Murphy's 34.28%. Chehalis Police Department Deputy Chief Matt McKnight was next with 16.51% of the vote.
Murphy is the biggest fundraiser in the county and has also seen a big influx of cash above $4,000 in the weeks since the primary election. According to the PDC, Murphy has raised $43,623.74, with roughly $39,000 of that coming in ahead of the Aug. 4 primary.
Out of the larger total, which includes seven individual contributions over the last two weeks, the vast majority of Murphy's funding — more than $32,000 — comes from individual contributors. The next biggest chunk is nearly $6,000 in small cash contributions. The Murphy campaign has also received just over $5,000 in in-kind contributions, with around half of that coming from him and his family.
Murphy has just under $10,000 in cash on hand as of this week.
Despite being a latecomer to the sheriff’s race, Frase raked in $38,204.15 ahead of the primary election and actually outspent Murphy by just over $1,000, spending $35,415.53. According to the PDC, Frase contributed just over $16,000 to the campaign himself, mostly in the form of in-kind donations.
Frase also brought in $16,000 in individual contributions along with another $4,700 in contributions from businesses and just over $1,000 in small contributions.
Frase has nearly $2,800 in cash on hand as of this week.
The rest of the sheriff candidates, including Kenneth Cheeseman, who dropped out during campaign filing week in May, raised and spent around $10,000. McKnight raised $11,261.92, with nearly 75% of that coming from individual contributors. He spent approximately $10,800.
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy Danny Riordan raised $10,253.98 and spent $9,716.41, contributing about $5,760 himself and bringing in nearly $4,000 in individual contributions.
Lewis County auditor
Mitchell Merrill advanced out of the primary with less than 100 votes more than his lead competitor Mitch Townsend in the Lewis County auditor race.
Both men hope to fill the position being vacated by longtime Auditor Larry Grove, who will retire at the end of his term.
According to the PDC, Merrill raised just over $8,000, with nearly $5,000 coming from individual contributors. He contributed $1,669.76 himself. He has so far outspent his fundraising with $9,367.78 in recorded campaign spending.
Townsend has raised $6,284.86 and spent approximately $5,500. Townsend has contributed nearly all of his campaign funds himself, spending $5,376.21 while reporting about $700 in individual contributions.
Frank Corbin, who did not advance to the general election, raised and spent $5,697.08, while contributing roughly $2,600 himself and receiving around $1,700 in individual contributions and around $1,000 in business contributions.
The general election is on Nov. 3.
