Craswell Gathers Endorsements, Campaign Cash

Ellen Craswell was dismissed as too radical to win the governor’s race but now she’s starting to rake in endorsements and dough.

Her campaign claims to have raised about $300,000 since the primary, including $16,000 at a fund-raiser at the Spokane Club on Sept. 30.

Craswell is also buying her first TV ads of the campaign. She will spend $150,000 on a statewide TV spot that begins running Monday.

The commercial will show the GOP nominee at home, standing by the fireplace, talking about what she calls “the brilliant principles of the Founding Fathers.”

Craswell will also spell out her campaign theme of commitment to strong families, religious and economic freedom, and limited government.

Meanwhile, business organizations are jumping on Craswell’s campaign. The Washington chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business is endorsing Craswell, Carolyn Logue of the small business group said Friday.

The NFIB originally shied away from Craswell out of fear she could not win. “We’re not stupid,” was Logue’s preliminary assessment.

But now, the organization has decided she deserves its endorsement because of the contrast Craswell cuts with Democrat Gary Locke. Logue said Locke’s voting record in Olympia is anti-business.

Another cautious endorsement

The Building Industry Association of Washington, one of the state’s most aggressive business groups, also endorsed Craswell this week, after considerable internal wrangling.

The president of the builder’s group warned members not to support Craswell in an internal memo that criticized her plan to cut state taxes at least 30 percent in four years.

Craswell “supports a fiscal policy that would, in my opinion, be disastrous to our industry,” president Ken Donohue wrote.

He cautioned members against endorsing her, saying, “She is likely to lose badly in this election, and the association can ill-afford to sustain the negative impact associated with her loss.”

Donohue didn’t throw any support Locke’s way, saying to endorse him would be a “sell-out.”

He needn’t have worried.

The group voted unanimously to endorse Craswell because of her adherence to free market principles, said Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the builder’s group.

The organization will also provide money and volunteer help, he promised.

But don’t look for the kind of six-figure help Rep. Dale Foreman, R-Wenatchee, got from the builders in the primary.

The builders pumped more than $100,000 into Foreman’s losing campaign for governor. So there isn’t much left to spend on Craswell, McCabe said.

Failed candidates in the red

Leave it to those tight-fisted Republicans to leave the biggest trail of red ink behind their campaigns.

The final report filed by Foreman shows his campaign is nearly $400,000 in debt. Worse, most of the money owed is Foreman’s - he borrowed heavily to help finance the race.

Foreman’s campaign spent more than $1.1 million, state records show. Norm Maleng, the GOP King County prosecutor, is also $40,000 in the red, all of it his own money. The campaign spent $630,717 on Maleng’s losing race for governor.

Democrat Jay Inslee had to send back thousands in campaign contributions given to him for the general election, state records show. He raised only $465,069, not much for a gubernatorial candidate.

Inslee lost badly, attracting just 10 percent of the vote.

But at least he finished in the black.

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