King County executive candidate Susan Hutchison—a “nonpartisan” former KIRO anchor whose politics are decidedly Republican—raised $58,880 last month, less than KC Council members Dow Constantine ($70,584) and Larry Phillips ($58,884) but more than Democratic state senator Fred Jarrett ($9,071) and Democratic state representative Ross Hunter ($9,600). That’s an impressive total for a candidate whose main strategy appears to be avoiding public events. (Hutchison has been a no-show at several county council debates, and has failed to RSVP to numerous upcoming events to which she has been invited).

Where did Hutchison’s money come from? Let’s take a look.

$3,200 from Kemper Freeman, the pro-roads, anti-transit developer of Bellevue Square, and his wife Betty;

$1,600 from Trilogy Partners executive Theresa Gillespie, who maxed out to Republicans John McCain, Gordon Smith, and Mitt Romney, among other Republican candidates;

$1,600 from Dudley Miller, a Bellevue therapist affiliated with a group called the Christian Network Forum for Sexual Health, and $1,600 from another counselor, Kathleen Miller, who I assume is his wife;

$1,600 from Linda Nordstrom of Medina, a donor to Dave Reichert, George W. Bush, John McCain, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee;

$1,600 from Lisa Persdotter, a 28-year-old Swede who married Hutchison’s boss, then-60-year-old billionaire Charles Simonyi, last year;

$3,200 from J.V. and S.S. Rundlaub, two big donors to the Republican US Senate Victory Committee;

$1,600 from Marilyn Smith of Medina, who donated $1,000 last year to Mike Huckabee;

$1,600 from wireless zillionaire John Stanton, another big donor to McCain, Romney, Gordon Smith, et al, plus another $3,200 from fellow wireless zillionaire and Republican donor Bruce McCaw and his wife Jolene;

$1,600 from KIRO CEO and Romney donor Ken Hatch and his wife, Cathi;

And so on. Bottom line: Hutchison is a Republican with partisan Republican donors, and King County deserve to know that before they decide whether she should represent them as county executive.

10 replies on “Republican KC Candidate Raised $58K From Republican Donors”

  3. I agree that she’s got republican views, and is basically a republican in disguise. But “She has donors who have given lots of money to republicans, therefore she is a republican” is a terrible argument. I bet Obama has donors who gave lots of money to republicans. I also bet that Hutchison has donors that gave money to democrats (does that make her a closet democrat AND a closet republican?) And finally, Seattle doesn’t have many republican voters (I heard it was around 30% but I could be wrong), so republican voters around here are used to supporting the most conservative democrat. So the fact that she’s getting republican donations doesn’t by itself lend any support to the conclusion that she’s a closet republican; it could just be that she’s the most conservative person running (which doesn’t tell you anything about HOW conservative she is.)

    Also, since you don’t give us any stats on (a) how many democrat-supporting donors she also has, or (b) how many republican-supporting donors the other candidates have, it’s not reasonable to draw any conclusions from your list here.

    Again, I agree (for other reasons) that Hutchison is probably a republican too afraid to just come out and say it, but setting out bad arguments for that conclusion won’t help your cause.

  4. Why not give Susan a chance to speak her views first? You all seem so intent on ruining her by “bringing her donors to light” but like the last comment, a lot of Repub donors gave to Obama…stop the guilt by association, focus on her views instead.

  7. “SS” Sarah Rindlaub is on the Board of the Washington Policy Center, and spent a lot of time trashing Mass Transit Now last year. The company she keeps on the WPC Board–

    Greg Porter, Chairman, Berntson Porter & Company, Bellevue

    John Connors, Vice Chairman, Ignition Partners, Bellevue

    Richard Alvord, Treasurer, Seattle

    Fred Bovenkamp, FW Bovenkamp Ventures

    Ron Cohn, Consolidated Restaurants, Inc., Mercer Island

    Jim Coles, Secretary, Westen Peterbilt, Inc., Seattle

    William Conner, Conner Development, Bellevue

    Kathy Connors, Bellevue

    Jim Day, Simpson Investment Co., Seattle

    Hon. Kemper Freeman, Jr., Kemper Development, Bellevue

    John J. Hennessy,Nuprecon, LP, Snoqualmie

    Hon. Stephen L. Johnson, Former Washington State Senator, Kent

    David Maryatt, Seattle

    Daniel Mead Smith,President, WPC, Seattle

    Hon. George R. Nethercutt Jr., Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles, Spokane

    Jerry Nutter, Nutter Corporation, Vancouver

    Mary Odermat, Medina

    John Otter, Commerce Bridge Company

    Ken D. Peterson, Jr., Columbia Ventures Corp., Vancouver

    Sarah Rindlaub, Past Chairman, King County Charter Review Commission Member, Mercer Island

    Peter Stanton, Washington Trust Bank, Spokane

    Al Symington, Seattle

    Janet True, Seattle

    Fred Weiss, The Weiss Company, Seattle

    Roberta Weymouth, Silver Cloud Inns & Hotels, Bellevue

    Robert L. Wiley III, Bellevue

    Craig Williamson, MM Comfort Systems, Redmond

    Len Zarelli, Merit Company, Lakewood

  8. Hutchison is a Christian Republican; ECB is a petty thief. Hutchison should wear the scarlet CR. ECB should wear the scarlet PT.

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