The state House Republican Committee has filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office accusing the 45th District Democrats of hiding the source of $22,000 in contributions to Democratic State Rep. Roger Goodman.
The House Republicans said in a press release that the 45th District Democrats group had given Goodman’s campaign $22,000 while reporting only $2,673 in its bank account.
Goodman, the 45th District Position 1 state House incumbent from Kirkland, faces Republican Joel Hussey of Redmond in the Nov. 6 general election.
The chairman of the 45th District Democrats, Trent Latta of Kirkland, said the group is not hiding anything and that the complaint is a political ploy by the Republicans.
“We deny any wrongdoing," he said. “It’s hard to tell exactly what they are complaining about. We’ve already been in touch with the Public Disclosure Commission about it.”
House Republican Organizational Committee Political Director Kevin Carns said in the press release, “Washington State voters have the absolute right to know the source of contributions and the expenditures being made to influence their vote. Voters deserve immediate action on potentially illegal money that is flooding into this legislative race.”
But Latta said the 45th District Democrats have given Goodman less money than campaign finance laws allow. “Our board made a decision to contribute to Roger Goodman,” he said, “We are actually well under what we can legally give him.”
Latta said the money given to Goodman came from the political action committees the Harry Truman Fund, the Roosevelt Fund and Justice for All, as well as the employee groups Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare and Washington Federation of State Employees.
Here is the entire press release from the state House Republicans:
The single largest donor to Representative Roger Goodman has repeatedly hidden the source of its contributions and is deliberately misleading the public to avoid disclosure, according to a formal complaint filed with the Attorney General’s office.
The 45th District Democrats have made multiple contributions to 45th District Democratic candidate Roger Goodman without filing any information on the source of those contributions. They are charged with hiding the source of donations intended for Roger Goodman, failure to file multiple reports as required by law and engaging in an effort to conceal the source of those donations to Roger Goodman’s campaign.
The following contributions have been reported by candidate Roger Goodman’s campaign for state representative:
- 45th District Democrats, 7/22/2012, $4500 (Primary)
- 45th District Democrats, 10/5/2012, $4000 (General)
- 45th District Democrats, 10/15/2012, $13500 (General)
The 45th District Democrats have funneled $22,000 to Roger Goodman since late July, yet report having only $2673.00 in their bank account.
“Washington State voters have the absolute right to know the source of contributions and the expenditures being made to influence their vote” said House Republican Organizational Committee Political Director Kevin Carns. “Voters deserve immediate action on potentially illegal money that is flooding into this legislative race”.
