OLYMPIA — Suzan DelBene leads the Democratic pack of candidates in the fundraising race for Washington’s 1st Congressional District, raising more than $341,000 in the first three months of this year and winning an endorsement from Gov. Chris Gregoire.
New campaign fundraising numbers were posted by the Federal Election Commission on Monday for fundraising totals through the end of March. DelBene, who was endorsed by Gregoire on Monday, has the most money on hand to spend, more than $318,000. DelBene, who entered the race in January, has $250,000 in debt, due to a personal loan she made to her prior campaign against Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.
DelBene, the former head of the Washington state Revenue Department, is a former Microsoft executive who was defeated by Reichert in the 2010 race for the 8th Congressional District seat.
In the latest fundraising totals, she was ahead of political activist Darcy Burner, who brought in $178,533 for the first quarter of the year and had $114,639 on hand. Former state Rep. Laura Ruderman had raised $103,255 and has more than $220,000 in the bank. Rounding out the Democratic slate are state Sen. Steve Hobbs, who raised $73,673 and has nearly $99,000 in the bank, and businessman Darshan Rauniyar who raised $29,623 and has nearly $124,000 on hand. State Rep. Roger Goodman dropped his bid for Congress last Thursday.
Republican John Koster, who doesn’t face an opponent in the Aug. 7 primary, has reported raising nearly $89,000, and has $103,495 to spend. Larry Ishmael, who is running as an independent, hasn’t raised any money, according to FEC filings.
All are seeking the seat being vacated by Rep. Jay Inslee, who resigned from Congress last month to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.
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