Incumbent Mayor Paul Schell has raised $240,000. King County Council Member Greg Nickels has raised $211,000. And City Attorney Mark Sidran has raised $142,000. What are voters supposed to make of these numbers, besides the fact that Schell, the incumbent, has raised the most money--while Sidran, the "Republican," has raised the least?
Well, Nickels is relying on smaller contributions from a broader base. He has nearly 1,900 contributors to Schell's 900. Nickels' average contribution is $111. Schell's average gift is $269. Indeed, the largest slice of Nickels' donor base, 46 percent, is the $25 or less crowd, while just five percent have given the $600 maximum donation. By way of comparison, Schell's $600 crowd makes up a hearty 28 percent of his base. As for the $25 or less donors, Schell's got less than 200 of those folks. Nearly 900 people have given to Nickels at that level. (Sidran's average gift is $144, with the biggest percentage of his base--43 percent--chipping in between $26 and $100.)
Does all of this make Nickels, who picked up a prize labor endorsement from the Boeing machinists union last month, the groovy populist to Schell's downtown elitist? Please. Law firms like Preston Gates & Ellis and companies like Microsoft are well represented on Nickels' donor list. Both firms are in Nickels' top 10. Meanwhile, when judged by neighborhoods, Nickels is hardly winning over Seattle's disenfranchised communities. Nickels has netted an underwhelming 54 donors from South Seattle, and just 48 folks from the North End.
Of course, compared to Schell, while Nickels is no Nick "Let's Hear it for Brother Nick" Licata, the county council guy does cut a more populist figure than the mayor. Not hard to do. Schell's top donor list is littered with downtown developers (Wright Runstad, Shiels Obletz Johnsen), financial institutions (Washington Mutual, Madrona Investment), and law firms (Foster Pepper & Shefelman, Preston Gates & Ellis), not to mention such rebels as Paul Allen and Margaret Pageler.
As for Sidran, the typical Slade Gorton-era donors are showing up on his list. Microsoft exec Richard Brass--the guy who spent a record $25,000 on conservative independent expenditures ads in the 1999 city council race and $1,000 on Slade Gorton last year--has downloaded $1,035 to Sidran. The Seattle ethics office says Sidran has to return $435 to Brass. (There's a $600 donation limit.) Meanwhile, as predicted ["Republicans for Sidran," Josh Feit, May 24], the Pigott family joined the Sidran charge. Former Paccar CEO and major Republican donor Charles Pigott has donated the maximum $600 to Sidran. Pigott's $22,750 in total gifts to national candidates include $1,000 checks to Steve Forbes, Slade Gorton, Jennifer Dunn, and Hillary Clinton opponent Rick Lazio.
So again, what are Seattle voters to discern from the latest round of fundraising reports? If you can judge a candidate by his supporters--and you can--Nickels has broader appeal (by default, some would argue); Schell is the establishment candidate (despite the thumping he's been getting on The Seattle Times' op-ed pages); and Sidran is, well, a Republican (but we knew that, right?).
