“Nonpartisan” Fain’s Contributors Are a Who’s Who of Traditional Republican Donors

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.