OLYMPIA – The state’s campaign watchdog agency has rejected Rep. Hans Dunshee’s allegations that Republican Mike Hope broke campaign finance laws during their heated 2004 election campaign.
Dunshee, D-Snohomish, filed a complaint in October 2004 with the state Public Disclosure Commission, targeting thousands of dollars in contributions to Hope from the Robinett family and the businesses they run.
Dunshee alleged that the $10,000 Hope received collectively from nine entities with a relationship to a member of the Robinett family exceeded contribution limits for the 2004 election.
PDC staff, following a nearly 18-month investigation, determined that was not the case.
“Because none of the nine entities referenced in the complaint are affiliated for contribution limit purposes, the 2004 Mike Hope campaign did not accept overlimit contributions,” PDC executive director Vickie Ripple wrote in a March 24 letter.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Hope, who is challenging Dunshee again this year. “It is the same complaint he files every two years. We get the same outcome every time.”
For Dunshee, the decision marks another setback in his perennial effort to clamp down on donations to his opponents by Hank Robinett of Everett, a local developer and Republican Party loyalist.
“The PDC wants to have a very narrow definition of affiliation, and I disagree with them,” Dunshee said. “It doesn’t mean Hope and Robinett are right, it means they’ve found a loophole.”
Dunshee tried to close the loophole with legislation this year, but failed.
State law limits contributions to candidates from a single person or business.
Limited liability corporations, often set up by developers for each project they undertake, can contribute as separate businesses even if they are all controlled by the same people.
Dunshee pushed a law to have the caps on donations from individuals be applied to limited liability corporations. It passed the House of Representatives but died in a Senate committee.
Robinett has denied controlling the political donations of his family members. Hope, in this year’s campaign, has received $8,100 from Robinetts and their businesses.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360- 352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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