Reform implication · 2 cases

Campaign finance gray zones

The PDC keeps writing new rules after each high-profile complaint gets dismissed on a technicality. The pattern is regulation by case, not in advance. Reform here aims at clearer ex-ante definitions of regulated activity.

  1. SEA-2025-004 · Sep 4, 2025 · Documented
    In August 2025, the Mayor's Office launched a new official City of Seattle TikTok account in the weeks immediately before the August primary election, in which Mayor Bruce Harrell was a candidate. Seattle resident Paul Chapman filed a…
    Rule gaming
  2. WA-2023-PDC-001 · Jul 11, 2023 · Documented · $1.2M
    In 2023, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson transferred approximately $1.2 million in surplus funds from his prior AG campaign accounts into his newly launched gubernatorial campaign. The transfer was done under existing Washington State…
    Rule gaming