Incumbents don’t need donations

With a front-page headline, “Murray’s biggest donors: lobbyists,” a Wednesday article continues through most of an inside page, minutely analyzing those lobbyists, how much they contributed, and how much they benefit.

Another article tells of the huge gap between incumbent Rick Larsen’s campaign war chest and those of his opponents, including two Democratic challengers, Larry Kalb and Diana McGinness. Larsen, whose donations consist of 65 percent PAC money, has 100 times as much as Kalb, who accepts only individual donations. McGinness has not filed a contribution report to date.

In spite of five-time incumbent Larsen’s huge financial advantage, he failed to get the endorsement of the Whatcom County Democrats because his Democratic challengers (both from Bellingham) together garnered more votes (Kalb 69, McGinness 40) than Larsen did (85).

McGinness has insufficient financial and electoral support to compete this year. She should publicly encourage her contingent to support Kalb, whose values are similar to hers, to help level the field to choose two candidates for November.

To all voters in the 2nd Congressional District and the 10th Legislative District: Donations to challengers from both parties will help them get their message out in time to educate voters before the August primary. None of the incumbents, with their lobbyist financing, need your support.

If we do this, we can have fairer campaigns for all seats about issues with minimal distraction about who is buying whom.

Jim Bruner

Oak Harbor