More big money to fight CCA repeal
Plus new federal campaign cash numbers, a big green jet fuel deal, and the return of the Seattle Politicos Mixer
The campaign against repealing the state’s cap-and-trade system for major emitters of carbon pollution rolled out a splashy new slate of donors, including two of the larger sources of said emissions.
No On 2117 now claims more than $11 million in donations and pledges. The new players include Amazon1, whose carbon footprint is large enough that the company felt compelled to name an arena after their commitment to reduce it, and fossil fuel titan BP, which owns one of the five oil refineries in Washington. BP supported the Climate Commitment Act when it was passed in 2021 because it sees money to be made in a green-energy future. The company’s involvement here is especially notable because it spent millions to defeat a similar carbon-pricing scheme on the ballot just six years ago.
Also on the list is billionaire philanthropist Connie Ballmer. Remember that meeting that Gov. Jay Inslee took at the Ballmer Group recently? The new money comes on top of the big checks from Bill Gates and other early Microsofties we wrote about last week. The campaign declined to break down exactly which of the new donors gave/pledged how much, but they’ll have to cough those numbers up to the Public Disclosure Commission soon enough.
The campaign also rolled out a new video previewing its messaging for the fall. It’s a blend of dire warnings about climate change and reminders that the carbon-allowance auctions conducted under the Climate Commitment Act pump hundreds of millions of dollars into transit, job-producing green energy projects, and other spending that folks might want to continue.
No On 2117 will likely need all this dough because the case for repealing the CCA can be written on the back of a cocktail napkin. Many Washingtonians experience the law as a backdoor tax on gasoline because the oil companies, including BP, are passing compliance costs on to the consumer. Proponents of the initiative will surely remind voters of that.
The video also repeats the argument that the initiative is the work of one selfish rich dude, a swipe at Republican megadonor Brian Heywood, who pumped millions of his own cash into the signature drive for I-2117 and five other conservative measures, three of which were so popular that the Legislature adopted them to keep them off the ballot.
While it is likely I-2117 wouldn't be on the ballot without Heywood, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that more than 400,000 people signed that initiative. Many of those signatures were gathered via the grassroots volunteer organization Restore Washington.
Unless other oil companies jump in on the yes campaign, it’s likely Let’s Go Washington, Heywood’s PAC, will be badly outgunned in terms of cash this year. It’ll be interesting to see whether voters buy the selfish-rich-guy argument when there’s so much wealth on the other side.
PQ
New federal campaign cash numbers
First-term Democratic Congresswoman Marie Glusenkamp Perez continues to pile up a fundraising advantage in her expected rematch with Republican Joe Kent in Southwest Washington’s 3rd District. Perez raised more than $1 million in the first quarter of the year and now has $3M in hand. Kent, meanwhile, pulled in nearly $430K and has $635K to work with.
Camas City Councilwoman Leslie Lewallen—who’s running as a moderate alternative to Kent’s performative MAGA schtick— raised a respectable $193K in Q1 and has $217K in hand. The Washington State Republican Party made an unusually early endorsement of Kent last year in an attempt to squelch Lewallen.
The race figures to be close in November because the 3rd was drawn to be Republican-leaning when former GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler held the district. Beutler’s vote to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection prompted a contentious 3-way race in the Republican side2 of the primary that left the incumbent out of the money. Perez beat Kent, whose campaign was more MAGA performance art than an attempt to get elected, with a highly focused strategy aimed at disaffected moderates.
Expect the 3rd to be awash in Democratic money defending Perez in the fall. It’s unclear how enthusiastic the national GOP moneymen are about Kent, who would likely be another telegenic grandstander in a Republican caucus that’s already overburdened in that department. One interesting thing to watch: Do those same moneymen take a flier on Lewallen?
Out in Eastern Washington, there’s an open race for the 5th Congressional District, where incumbent GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is peacing out. Fiscal front-runner Michael Baumgartner, the Spokane County Treasurer, was crowing last week about a $400K haul in the first quarter of the year. Fellow Republican Jaquelin Maycumber was less forthcoming about the $139K she raised. The Republic Republican3 currently holds the 7th Legislative District seat in the state House formerly occupied by McMorris Rodgers.
Three Democrats—Carmela Conroy, Bernardine Bank, and Ann Marie Danimus—have raised more than $100K each. Conroy, who spent more than 20 years in the State Department in various interesting international places, pulled in the most at $157K. But we must give the style points prize to Danimus, who recently threw a fundraiser featuring the Hells Belles, the head-banging all-female AC/DC tribute band. Republicans have held the 5th since 1994, when the late Rep. Tom Foley became the first Speaker of the House to lose his reelection bid in more than 100 years.4
We wrote about the cash race between Democrats Hilary Franz and Emily Randall in the 6th District earlier this month, but now we see just how decisive that primary contest will likely be. Republican state Sen. Drew MacEwen raised just $45K in Q1, a sign that GOP donors aren’t lining up to blow money in a historically safe Democratic district that includes the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and part of Tacoma. The last Republican to hold the seat, Thor C. Tollefson, lost a reelection bid in 1964.
Republican campaign cash was even thinner on the ground in the nominally swing 8th District—which stretches from the eastern Puget Sound suburbs across the Cascades to Kittitas, Chelan, and Douglas counties. Republican Carmen Goers raised just $12K in the first quarter and has only $26K in hand. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Kim Shrier pulled in $838K for the quarter and has a $2.8M war chest. Shrier, who flipped the seat in 2018 after now-gubernatorial hopeful Dave Reichert didn’t seek reelection, has since defended it twice, including a 23,000-vote victory over Republican Matt Larkin in 2022.
In the race for the U.S. Senate, the money race is similarly lopsided. Yakima physician Raul Garcia raised $162K in the Q1 and has just $151K in hand. Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell raised $1.5 million and sits behind a $6.5M briar patch. Potential GOP donors no doubt recall the Tiffany Smiley experiment from two years ago5 and aren’t keen on sending good money after bad.
PQ
Boeing seals big deal with Big Finnish Biofuel
The Boeing Company has agreed to buy an absolute boatload of greener jet fuel from the company we like to think of as Big Finnish Biofuel.
Old-school Observer readers may remember Neste, a major player in biofuels that began life as the state oil company of Finland, from our deep dive into the company’s stealth campaign supporting the low-carbon fuel standard back in 2021.
Neste sells what it describes as “sustainable aviation fuel” concocted with plant oils, recycled cooking oil, and animal fat blended with conventional jet fuel. The comparably greener fuel attracted a lot of interest from the aerospace industry, which is enormously carbon-intensive. Boeing hasn’t cracked the electric 737 problem just yet.
Lawmakers cut a tax break for would-be biofuel producers last year, though where the industry will set up shop is a concerning question for Washington tribes.
Boeing ordered 7.5 million gallons (~ 22,700 tons) of blended biofuel.
TG
The return of the Seattle Politicos Mixer
If you enjoy talking politics in person with an adult beverage in hand, you should join us in a couple of weeks for the return of the Seattle Politicos Mixer. We’re gathering at the South Lake Union Discovery Center (where the first version was held back in 2009) on Tuesday, May 7. The Observer has agreed to buy the beer and wine because we know people enjoy that. More details are here. RSVP to Sierra Hansen at sierra@hansenpa.com.
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And Arya’s back
Celebrating the spring weather by rolling with the inside-out ear. Want to see your pet in this space? Drop us a photo and some caption material.
Amazon is a sponsor of the Observer’s annual Re-Wire Policy Conference, which is one of the ways we pay the bills around here. Also, although Amazon’s business is carbon-intensive because of all the trucks, it isn’t a major emitter under the CCA, which is aimed at facilities such as refineries, factories, and power plants.
Yes, we know there’s technically no “Republican side” in the top two primary system. Don’t @ us.
Yes, we went there. She’s from Republic.
In Foley’s defense,1994 was a really bad year for Democrats.
Encouraging poll numbers lured some folks into believing that political newcomer Smiley stood a chance. Longtime incumbent Sen. Patty Murray won by more than 14 percentage points.