KENNEWICK — Washington’s government watchdog commission responsible for enforcing campaign finance laws dinged Semi Bird at a hearing this week for failing to provide party preference and sponsor ID on political advertisements.
The Public Disclosure Commission imposed a $600 fee on the gubernatorial candidate, but suspended $500 of that. Meaning Bird will have to pay just $100 for violating Washington’s laws on campaign finance.
PDC Vice Chair Robert Leach during the hearing said this is an “easy thing to overlook” for primary candidates running for governor.
Bird meanwhile acknowledged the violation, saying he had “no idea” that they were not in compliance and that there was “no excuses.”
But he also said people making the complaints were attempting to “weaponize” the commission against him by piling on cases.
At issue with this case are T-shirts distributed by the Bird for Governor campaign that failed to include the candidate’s party preference.
The Richland Republican also failed to disclose his party preference on social media accounts, the PDC found.
Washington state law requires all electioneering communications, independent expenditures and political advertising to include the party when pursuing partisan office.
Bird had registered to run for governor with a party preference marked as “Republican” in November 2022.
Robert Parker, a fellow Republican, filed the case against Bird in June, though Bird had received a formal written warning from the PDC about identifying his political preference in February
“Candidate Bird continues to be an habitual offender of the campaign finance laws and, even after a long list of warnings and a recent fine for the same violations, he persists in flipping his nose at the PDC and laws concerning campaigns in Washington state,” Parker wrote in his complaint.
Since beginning his gubernatorial run, six other complaints have been filed against Bird for various alleged violations of campaign finance laws, including for failing to timely report contributions and spending. In late 2023, during a two-day period, Bird’s campaign issued 26 corrections to several reports, the PDC says.
Two cases also were filed in 2021, when he was serving on the Richland School Board, for misreporting in-kind donations and for failing to submit a financial affairs report listing his interests.
At Thursday’s hearing, Bird acknowledged his campaign had run out of cash and that the fee would come from his “family’s account.” He asked for leniency in the case.
Bird’s most recent monthly report to the commission, filed Sept. 11, shows his campaign has just $4,900 cash on hand, though that information is likely out of date. His campaign does not list any debts or loans owed.
Throughout his 21-month campaign, Bird raised about $736,000 in contributions and spent $731,000 of that. His largest expenditures went toward cable TV ads, yard campaign signs, text message marketing services, management and consulting costs and T-shirt printing.
Bird’s campaign finance woes might not be over.
Complainants from prior cases told the Herald they believe there may be further violations and that they plan to continue vetting Bird’s campaign disclosures, donations and receipts.
The retired U.S. Army Green Beret placed third in Washington’s Aug. 6 primary election, receiving just 11% of the vote . He lost out to Democrat Bob Ferguson and Republican Dave Reichert who will face off in the Nov. 5 general election. Ballots for that election go out Oct. 18.
Bird aimed to be the first Republican to be elected in Washington in more than 40 years, and he would have been the first Black American to do so, too.
Since his election loss, Bird has floated running an initiative campaign to transform Washington’s mail-in, paper ballot system back into a same-day, in-person model.
Rumors also have swirled around Bird — the current Benton County Republican Party chairman — possibly running for an executive seat on the Washington State Republican Party, something he’s vehemently denied.
Bird and two other members on the Richland School Board were recalled from office during the August 2023 election over a vote they took the year before to violate Washington’s indoor COVID masking mandate during the tail-end of the pandemic.
