Pridemore campaign opts to run cable TV ad

Don’t adjust your television sets. Yes, both Clark County commissioner candidates are running commercials in a last-minute bid for votes.

Candidate Craig Pridemore, a Democrat, announced earlier last week that his campaign had purchased airtime on cable stations to run his advertisement on the last week before the voting deadline Tuesday.

The media buy comes in response to television commercials his opponent, Republican Jeanne Stewart, has been running. Stewart received an $89,000 bump in October for the commercials, in which she attacks Pridemore as a liberal career politician.

Pridemore says much of that money came indirectly from Commissioner David Madore, also a Republican.

Madore in September contributed $25,000 to the Washington Republican Party, along with large contributions from developer Clyde Holland. Later, Stewart’s campaign received several large donations from the party for television commercials, totaling $89,000.

Pridemore’s TV ad references the large, last-minute party contributions to Stewart’s campaign, along with her apparent connection to Madore.

“The focus of the ad talks about the money and the relationship between Jeanne and Madore,” Pridemore said.

Pridemore said he contemplated filing an ethics complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission about the contributions, which he believes were earmarked for Stewart’s campaign, but said he lacks a smoking gun. Such earmarks would be violations of campaign finance laws. Former state Sen. Al Bauer, a Democrat, filed his own ethics complaint Oct. 24.

Pridemore said he did not ask Bauer to file the complaint, which Bauer confirmed.

For his commercials, Pridemore is spending around $40,000, roughly half of what Stewart has spent.

Money has become an important factor in the race, with Stewart more than doubling her campaign coffers in recent weeks. After following Pridemore in the money hunt for much of the campaign, Stewart now leads. She has raised $139,075, having spent $128,867, while Pridemore has raised $108,194, spending $92,047.

Both candidates are on pace to tap out their available funds by election night.

The commissioner position they’re running for will pay $102,000 next year, unless the home rule charter passes, in which case it will drop to $53,000.

Todd Donovan, a political science professor for Western Washington University, said he wasn’t surprised by the campaign totals, or that the candidates were spending money on television advertisements, considering the size of the media market at play.