Joe Fain, chief of staff to King County Council member Pete von Reichbauer, led the effort to make King County elected positions "nonpartisan" in 2008. However, as a candidate for the state senate against Democratic incumbent Claudia Kauffman, Fain has taken thousands of dollars from the usual Republican suspects: payday lenders, Republican county council members, Wal-Mart, and supporters of the controversial Maury Island gravel mine in the nearby 34th District.

For example, Cal Portland, the parent company of Maury gravel-mining company Glacier Northwest, has maxed out to Fain, giving his campaign $800 for the primary election and another $800 for the general. The Gun Owners Action League, an anti-gun-control group, has given Fain $800. And all four Republican members of the county council have contributed to Fain: Jane Hague has contributed $100, Kathy Lambert has given $150, Reagan Dunn has given $250, and Fain's boss von Reichbauer has given $405.

Fain's other contributors include:

• The Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association, $800;

• David Bassford, MoneyTree Executive Vice President, $250;

• Sara Bassford, MoneyTree Design Director, $250;

• Kemper Freeman, Bellevue developer and light-rail opponent, $1,600;

• Susan Hutchison, Republican King County Executive candidate, and Andrew Hutchison, $1,600;

• The Building Industry Association of Washington, $1,600;

• Wal-Mart, $1,600.

Fain has raised a total of $119,750 to Kauffman's $152,009.