Campaign funds pour into 9th District race

The publicly declared campaign warchests of Susan Fagan of Pullman and Pat Hailey of Mesa show a difference in fundraising styles in their campaign for the open 9th District representative’s seat.

The two Republicans are vying to replace the retiring Don Cox who served last year as a replacement for the late Steve Hailey.

According to documents on file with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission, Fagan holds an advantage in overall funding, with $98,014 in her coffers as of Tuesday. Hailey’s campaign stood at $65,224.

The bulk of those funds have been furiously spent over the past month in media blitzes put forth by both campaigns. Hailey has spent $52,304 on campaign mailers, print advertisements, billboards and radio ads, while Fagan’s campaign has spent $87,107 on many of the same expenses.

Most of the money spent by both campaigns has come from donations by individual supporters, but Fagan holds an edge in contributions from corporations and political action committees.

Of their respective totals, Fagan had received $3,450 from companies such as AT & T, Pfizer, Avista and Wal-Mart. Hailey, meanwhile, has pulled $1,450 in donations, primarily groups like the Washington Education Association, Washington Cattle Feeders Association and Credit Service of Central Wash., Inc.

Fagan said she received corporate donations because of her commitment to making the state and this district a better place to do business. That, she said, grows from her respect for those that spur the local economy.

“I have a great deal of respect for those that create wealth,” she said. “Because from that, they create jobs that allow people to live in this beautiful part of the world.”

She added that support from insurance and pharmaceutical companies reflect her hard work in trying to reform Washington’s health care market.

Hailey, meanwhile, said the fact that most of her donations were from local farm families represented her focus on representing local interests in Olympia. She said she did not actively solicit contributions from political action groups or businesses.

“If I go to Olympia, I want people to be absolutely certain who I am there to represent,” she said.

The 9th District is about farm families, she said, and their interests need particular attention in Olympia.

Both stressed their contributions will not impact their ability to represent the region.

Whoever wins will serve a one-year term in the legislature, and a new election for a full term 9th District representative will take place next November.

Complete campaign funding reports can be viewed on the Public Disclosure Commission web site: http://www.pdc.wa.gov.