Seattle Election Spending: Here’s What You Can Buy With Campaign Contributions

SEATTLE, WA – The eight candidates running for the open position 8 seat on the Seattle City Council have raised a combined $600,085 in advance of the Aug. 1 primary. If that money was used for something else, what could you buy?

You could buy body cameras for Seattle police: In 2015, Seattle got a $600,000 grant from the Department of Justice for those devices. You could also buy teachers: at the entry-level salary of $44,300, $600,000 buys about a dozen teachers for one year.

So, what else can you buy? Take a look (all figures from the state Public Disclosure Commission) at the total raised by each candidate and an approximate number of items you could buy for the same sum:

City of Seattle, Council Position 8 ($600,085 raised in total)

Charlene D. Strong Total Raised: $47,505.43

• One year of salary for a King County 911 dispatcher at a rate of $22.43 per hour

Rudy Pantoja Total Raised: $1,500

• 150 dog rabies vaccine shots at the Seattle Animal Shelter

Sara E. Nelson Total Raised: $130,346.62

• Tuition for 41 students to attend a Seattle community college free for one academic year

Sheley Secrest Total Raised: $15,734.37

• 4,841 rides on Sound Transit from the University of Washington to Angle Lake ($3.25 each)

Jon Grant Total Raised: $175,089.33

• Rent this modest Capitol Hill apartment for 116 months (would require rent control)

Teresa Mosqueda Total Raised: $191,623.78

• 933 Seattle City Light (summer rate) bills at the average 60-day billing rate of $205.36 (1,800 KwH)

Hisam Goueli Total Raised: $30,936.23

• 2,388 Seattle Art Museum tickets for teens (ages 13-19)

Mac McGregor Total Raised: $7,350.00

• 368 Seattle Art Museum tickets at the adult rate ($19.95)

City of Seattle, Council Position 9 ($81,628.48 raised in total)

Ty Pethe Total Raised: $3,098.79

• 774 $4 donuts from General Porpoise on Capitol Hill

Pauly Giuglianotti Total Raised: $385.00

• 130 “Chocolate Peanut Butter” donuts from Mighty-O ($2.95 each)

Ian Affleck-Asch Total Raised: $1,241.43

• One month rent for this 389 square-foot studio apartment

David Preston Total Raised: $2,281.93

• 570 one-way rides on the Sounder between Kent and Seattle

Eric W. Smiley Total Raised: $1,962.00

• Adopt about 65 cats from the King County Animal Shelter ($30 each)

M. Lorena González Total Raised: $59,767.33

• Just shy of the annual salary for a King County deputy

Pat Murakami Total Raised: $12,892.00

• Rent out the Mount Baker Community Club for 53 hours

City of Seattle, Mayor (top 6 candidates) ($901,609.95 raised in total)

Cary Moon Total Raised: $149,648.75

• 6,802 adult tickets to Bill Spiedel’s Underground Tour (under Pioneer Square)

Jessyn Farrell Total Raised: $114,201.71

• 57,100 copies of Real Change, 28,550 months of a digital-only Seattle Times subscription, or 95 “Broadcasters Circle” KUOW memberships

Mike McGinn Total Raised: $42,494.70

• 3,647 months of a 96-gallon food/yard waste bin from Seattle Public Utilities

Jenny Durkan Total Raised: $458,890.84

• 35,299 hours of minimum wage labor in Seattle (at the $13 rate for a small business not offering health insurance)

Nikkita Oliver Total Raised: $120,792.21

• 710 Orca Cards loaded with $165 (two $2.75 fares per day for 30 days), plus the $5 fee for a new card

Bob Hasegawa Total Raised: $15,581.74

• 135 full memberships to the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club on Beacon Hill

Image via Patch.com