Business lobby muzzles its bite

SEATTLE – The Building Industry Association of Washington, long known for its brass-knuckle tactics and deep pockets for conservative candidates and causes, has muted its political megaphone and even started acting nice to former foes.

Now under new leadership, the group has reached out to people and organizations it used to bash, including Gov. Chris Gregoire and the state Department of Labor and Industries. It even made a $250 contribution to the state Democratic Party, although BIAW leaders say it was the cost to attend a party-sponsored business luncheon in Seattle and nothing should be read into it.

With builders struggling in the ongoing housing crunch, the group also isn’t bringing in the money it did a few years back, when it spent $6 million to support Republican Dino Rossi’s failed attempt to unseat Gregoire, a Democrat, in 2008.

The BIAW for years has served as a counterpoint to union groups that traditionally back Democratic candidates and liberal causes in Washington state.

But state Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur said he’s not counting on the association to pour money into GOP elections next year, including the governor’s race that pits Republican state Attorney General Rob McKenna against Democratic U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee.

The BIAW has “changed dramatically,” said Sam Anderson, executive officer of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, which belongs to the group.

“BIAW wants to be seen as a player that you’d like having at the table,” Anderson said, adding that he doesn’t expect the BIAW to return to its big-dollar, hyperpartisan campaigns of the past.

Chris Vance, a former chairman of the state GOP, said: “It looks to me, and I could be wrong, like they’ve become a more normal business group. I’m sure they’re still going to be active in politics and endorse candidates and write checks, but they no longer see themselves as an auxiliary of the Republican Party.”

Said Vance, “What it means is the Republicans have no allies with any real money.”

BIAW President Pat McBride says his organization is still a fiscally conservative group but that it’s too early to say what political role it will play in 2012, “other than we intend to be a player.”

Changes began after new leadership was installed late last year when the outspoken former executive vice president, Tom McCabe, left to become a consultant. McCabe declined to be interviewed for this article.

During his tenure, the BIAW became virtually synonymous with GOP politics in the state, spending nearly $11 million on conservative candidates and causes from 2002 through 2010.