KENNEWICK — Two Central Washington candidates have collectively raised nearly $1 million in campaign contributions in what’s expected to be one of the closest-watched races for the Washington Legislature this year.
Yakima Republican Curtis King is seeking a fifth term representing the 14th District in the state Senate. He’s defending his seat against Democratic challenger Maria Beltran, also of Yakima.
“It’s unheard of,” Todd Schaefer, professor of political science and department chair at Central Washington University, said of the fundraising. “I think the Republicans obviously want to hold on to (the seat), but the Democrats think there is a real chance here.”
Voters got a preview of the race during the Aug. 6 primary election, when both candidates appeared on the ballot.
In those results, King led Beltran by 16 percentage points. But Democrats argue a general election swing of progressive votes could put Beltran within striking distance of winning.
“Democrats tend to vote more in presidential elections,” Schaefer said. “Whether she can gain 16 points? I don’t know.”
A pragmatic conservative running on his bipartisan record, King has gone mostly unchallenged since being elected to office in 2007. In 2016, he fended off a challenger from his own party by more than 20 points.
“I don’t feel like I’ve slowed down,” the 78-year-old lawmaker told the Tri-City Herald earlier this year.
King, who had to move to a different home to stay in the 14th District, currently serves as ranking member on the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee and the Transportation Committee. He’s had several bills signed into law by the governor.
Between 2015 and 2017, he served as the transportation committee chair, and led negotiations and sponsorship on the “first successful transportation revenue package in more than a decade,” per the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.
That $16 billion package included several Eastern Washington projects, six “mega projects,” and billions for maintaining state roads.
Beltran, 31, says Yakima Valley voters, especially Latinos, have felt “left behind” and their representation hasn’t been as effective in the statehouse. People want fresh perspectives as well as lawmakers who are in touch with the issues impacting them, she’s said.
The daughter of immigrant farm workers, Beltran grew up in Yakima and worked to become the first in her family to graduate high school and college, with a bachelor’s from Gonzaga. She worked in the office of U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier and formerly worked as a deputy director with the House Democratic Campaign Committee.
“I’m more than just a Yakima candidate or a Latina candidate. I’m a candidate who understands the struggles of this district first-hand,” she told the Herald.
Ballots for the Nov. 5 election will be mailed out to registered voters by Friday, Oct. 18.
$1 million race
The race for Washington’s 14th Legislative District is gearing up to be one of the most expensive this year.
Aside from Republican Sen. Ron Muzzall’s campaign for reelection in Island County, Beltran and King have accumulated the most donations.
They’re spending big money on TV and print advertising, public relations firms, internal polls, text message campaigns, research and voter data, gas for travel, campaign signs and fundraising events.
The day after the primary, King transferred $120,000 of his own contributions to a surplus account for good measure.
And there’s still plenty of money left in the bank for both candidates to spend. King has spent a little over half of the more than $514,000 he’s raised. Beltran has spent a little under half of the $474,000 raised.
No surprise, the largest contributions to both campaigns come from their respective parties.
State House and Senate Republicans have backed King to the tune of nearly $90,500.
He’s also received maxed-out donations from several big business lobbying organizations, as well as labor groups and tribes.
Among the several $1,200 contributions he’s received includes one from the political committee for Koch Industries, one of the nation’s largest private companies.
Local and state Democrats have meanwhile financed Beltran with more than $142,000 — that accounts for nearly one-third of all of her cash contributions.
She also has the backing of local labor groups, state employees, teachers unions and gun violence prevention groups. She is also backed by Planned Parenthood and other PACs that support pro-abortion legislation.
The race is also attracting some investment from statewide political groups.
For example, People for Jobs PAC — which lists an address in the Washington Farm Bureau building in Lacey — spent nearly $80,000 over the summer on advertisements and texting campaigns in support of King and Gloria Mendoza, a Republican running for one of the 14th’s House seats. Those dollars went toward negative Beltran text messages and mailers, too.
Research on U.S. House races show a correlation between challengers spending more and doing well, and incumbents spending more and doing worse, Schaefer says.
The idea is that money can be used as an indicator of an incumbent’s vulnerability.
If they spend more, it’s possible they may be at risk of being unseated. But if their opponent is spending more, it’s likely because they’re gaining ground.
“In a case like this, money is going to make a difference,” he said.
Microcosm of the Trump-Harris race?
Schaefer says the King-Beltran race has some parallels to the race for U.S. president, which will see Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, face off against former President Donald Trump, the Republican’s nominee. Both races see an accomplished woman of color challenging an older, white incumbent.
But unlike the national scene, Schaefer says state legislative races continue to be “low-information” competitions that get little media attention.
It will be especially hard for these candidates to get their messages out with the presidential race, congressional races, four conservative initiatives, the governor’s race and other state executive contests hogging all the attention.
During 2020, Washington Democrats took a primarily digital approach to campaigning, so as to not worsen the spread of COVID, while Republicans continued with in-person events held outside.
Schaefer says he’s curious to see how aggressive Democrats’ in-person efforts will be this year without a pandemic to consider.
Schaefer says he’s unsure if the four initiatives on November’s ballot are the type of “hot button” issues that would drive voters against Democrats’ solid control in the state Legislature.
If passed independently, those initiatives would prohibit government bans on natural gas; repeal an excise tax on capital gains; repeal Washington’s carbon tax credit trading system; and allow workers to opt out of a payroll tax funding Washington’s long-term cares benefits.
This district has received heightened attention over a contentious redistricting process that saw the state’s map of legislative districts redrawn multiple times to make it fairer for Latino voters in the Yakima Valley.
The map that’s used this year, drawn up by a U.S. District Court judge earlier this year, also made races more competitive for Democratic candidates.
Republicans have called the redrawn district an obvious partisan gerrymander, while Democrats have applauded the decision to give Latinos more of a say in state government.
