Anti-Madore PAC leads in campaign financing

In recent years, spending in Clark County council races has reached far into the six figures, driven largely by County Councilor David Madore’s willingness to open his pocketbooks for his expensive campaigns.

This year’s county races are seeing similarly large numbers for campaign financing, but this time, from an organization seeking to unseat the Republican councilor.

With less than three weeks to go before the Aug. 2 primary election, investor and philanthropist David Nierenberg’s political action committee, Connecting Clark County, has dominated campaign financing. The committee has raised $139,336, according to the Public Disclosure Committee, $50,000 of it in initial support from Nierenberg himself.

“When we created our PAC, we assumed that (Madore) and his supporters were likely to do the same thing all over again,” Nierenberg said, referring to the hundreds of thousands of dollars Madore has spent running for county seats. “We wanted to be in a position from a financial point of view where we could at least neutralize or match it if they were to do it again.”

In addition to opposing Madore, the PAC is also opposing Republican Eileen Quiring in District 4, and is supporting Republicans John Blom and Jennifer McDaniel, respectively, in their District 3 and District 4 races.

But this year, Madore trails other candidates to keep his District 3 seat, which covers east Vancouver from Interstate 205 to the border of Camas. Madore, who did not return a request for comment, has $15,279.49 in his war chest, $11,223.88 of which is his own money.

Blom, a real estate agent who sits on the Clark County Planning Commission, has raised $32,322.55, with another $39,627.45 in independent expenditures spent on his behalf by the Washington Realtors Political Action Committee.

“The money that I’ve raised directly comes from a really broad base of people — conservatives, Republicans, independents,” Blom said. “I think that reflects that people recognize the need for change on the county council.”

Some of Blom’s notable donors include Nierenberg, who directly gave the Republican $2,000, local businessman Tracy Wilson, who gave him $950, and Deputy County Manager Bob Stevens, who gave $500.

First-time candidate Tanisha Harris, a Democrat, has raised $24,158.05 in her campaign in District 3.

“For me, I’m not self-funding my campaign like David Madore is, and I don’t have a political action committee,” Harris said. “I have to rely on individual donors.”

But nearly a third of Harris’ campaign contributions — $8,000 — is from the House Democratic Campaign Committee. A search of PDC records indicates Harris, who had previously announced her intent to run for a representative seat in the 17th Legislative District, is the only local candidate whose campaign the committee has supported statewide. As the organization’s name would indicate, they primarily support candidates for state representative.

“There are people who are interested in the race and want to make sure that I am competitive in the race,” Harris said.

The Harry Truman Fund, a political action committee tied to the HDCC, gave $2,000 to Harris, and Vancouver’s Central Labor Council gave her $1,000.

In District 4, Republicans Quiring and McDaniel are on pace with each other for campaign fundraising.

Quiring, who did not return a request for comment, has raised $23,660.31. Her notable donors include Vancouver developer Clyde Holland, who gave $1,000, rural resident Carol Levanen, who gave $500, and Clark County Councilor Tom Mielke and his wife, Carmen, who gave total donations of $1,000.

McDaniel, meanwhile, has raised $22,335. She shares many of the same donors as Blom, including $2,000 from Nierenberg, and $1,000 from Wilson and $1,000 from Stevens.

“I think it’s gone incredibly well,” McDaniel said. “I’m honored that people are willing to support me with endorsements as well as financial donations.”

Democrat Roman Battan has raised $10,658 in his District 4 race, including $1,000 from the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council, $500 from Clark County Democrats Chair Rich Rogers and $300 from labor union L.I.U.N.A. Local 335.

“I think that contributions themselves are a way for people to give a commitment that they’re going to vote for your race,” Battan said.

When asked about Connecting Clark County, Battan said he’s “trying to stay focused on my race here.”