I’ve been to a lot of candidate fundraisers over the years, but never one so fancy that the campaign hired a valet to park my car. But I guess that’s because I’ve never been invited to a fundraiser for King County Council member Jane Hague.
- Source: PDC
So far this campaign, Hague has spent a total of $2,660 on valet parking, at three separate ritzy fundraisers. That’s more than any other local candidate this cycle. In fact, hers is the only campaign anywhere in the state this cycle to record an expenditure for valet parking.
I guess Jane and I just travel in different circles.
Maybe the boozer should use this money for cab fare instead.
The key word is this cycle. Expand the search to other cycles (the 2012 Governor Race, for example) and it doesn’t look so out of place. But duly noted.
http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/Adv…
Why don’t you ask whether there was valet parking at the $35,800-a-couple bash for President Obama, or the posh fundraiser for Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in North Seattle the same day?
Job Creator. Our most exalted slice of society.
yawn. yes, fund raisers for rich people require valet parking. big deal.
boring day on slog.
Valet parking creates jobs.
I’m going to guess that the other campaigns just call it “parking”.
@2: No, you don’t get away with that. Over the past decade there was only one other local candidate reporting a valet expenditure, and that was a March expenditure by Dow Constantine. Altogether, the PDC reports only 11 valet expenditures across all races, local and statewide, since 2000: three to Hague, the one to Constantine, four to Gregoire, two to McKenna and one to Inslee.
So yes, it does look out of place.
@7: Instead of guessing, why don’t you back it up. Find another local candidate who appears to have hired valets for a fundraiser.
Whoa there, cowboy. Isn’t that your job? I only offer a guess because, well, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”. Can you confirm that none of these are valet-related?
I don’t understand, you mean you people park your BMWs yourself? That’s just silly!
@8 – OK, OK I get that you mean local vs statewide. But what I was meaning to point out was there were 5 instances from R’s and 6 instances from D’s, so it’s a fairly balanced usage.
Do the valets have to breath into the breathalyzer interlock to park her car?
It’s better that Jane spend her money on hiring a poor college kid to park cars (and likely collect a few fat tips to pay down those student loans) than spend it on slimy attack ads like her opponent Richard Mitchell is doing.
And Goldy, let’s be honest. You don’t travel in ANY high-dollar fundraising circles. Campaigns rarely, if ever, invite members of the media to attend private functions.
I dislike Hague immensely, but this post is stupid. She’s making it easier for rich, busy donors to show up and contribute to her campaign. If they can drive up, give someone their car, make their appearance and have their car ready when they want to leave they’re much more likely to show up in the first place.
Sounds like a smart investment. And yes, most people with a little bit of cash travel in different circles than Stranger writers.