The state Public Disclosure Commission has dismissed two complaints against Attorney General Bob Ferguson over his efforts earlier this year to transfer $1.2 million in “surplus” campaign funds to his gubernatorial campaign.
In a written order Thursday, the commission unanimously dismissed the complaints with no violation found or penalty imposed, acknowledging Ferguson’s campaign had come into compliance with the law and new guidance from the commission.
The complaints were filed after Ferguson in May moved $1.2 million left over from his campaigns for attorney general to his 2024 campaign for governor — just before the commission issued a new ruling that barred such transfers.
Critics argued such transfers amounted to a loophole that violated the spirit of the state’s campaign finance laws by allowing candidates to use leftover donor money and then hit up the same donors again for new contributions. Two complaints to the Public Disclosure Commission were filed against Ferguson in May and June.
Ferguson, a Democrat, initially defended his maneuver, saying his gubernatorial campaign had been following the “clear and unequivocal guidance” that had for years blessed such transfers.
But after the complaints and news coverage, he relented and filed amended campaign reports in August disclosing the individual donors whose contributions had been transferred to his gubernatorial campaign.
That made the donations subject to the state’s contribution limits and complied with the new Public Disclosure Commission guidance. The commission’s order Thursday said staff “has verified that contribution limits were not exceeded.”
Fred Jarrett, one of five members of the Public Disclosure Commission, said in a news release he fully supported the decision to dismiss the complaints.
However, Jarrett said he was “disappointed it took two complaints from the public, a formal investigation and two months to provide the identity of persons whose contributions were transferred and the amounts of those individual contributions.”
Ferguson, in a statement, said the commission’s decision “agrees that I consistently followed” published guidance and the law on surplus funds. “I have spent my career fighting for transparency in our elections and for campaign finance reform,” he said.
The crackdown on the surplus transfers loophole has not blunted Ferguson’s huge fundraising edge in the gubernatorial race.
His campaign has raised more than $5.6 million so far — outpacing all his rivals combined, according to Public Disclosure Commission filings.
Dave Reichert, the former Republican congressman and former King County sheriff, has raised more than $1.2 million. State Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, has raised about $960,000. Semi Bird, a military veteran recalled by voters in August from the Richland School Board, has raised about $275,000.
