Although Spokane was once the home to some of the hottest, closest and most expensive legislative races in the state, the 2022 races are fairly tame so far and will likely stay that way through the Nov. 8 election.
That’s partly a result of districts being redrawn over the past few decades to make partisan competition difficult. But it’s also a function of a campaign financing system that gives incumbents a sometimes insurmountable advantage. The money invested in candidates — some might say thrown at them — illustrates problems with Washington’s campaign financing system.
First, it comes largely from businesses, political action committees, unions and tribes, $1,000 at a time, which is the state limit for legislators for an election. But because there are two elections each year — a primary and a general — some incumbents collect $2,000 from those groups, even if they have no opposition in either.
Second, regardless of their party affiliation, incumbents get big bucks from many of the same “usual suspects,” including Avista, Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Pfizer and Anheuser-Busch. Those companies employ some of the best lobbyists in the state, so they obviously know these candidates aren’t in danger of losing. So they are either rewarding them for support in the previous session or guaranteeing access in the next session. Or both.