PORT ANGELES — The only countywide seat up for election in Clallam County features two candidates who are running largely self-financed campaigns.
As of Friday, incumbent Superior Court Judge Lauren Erickson of Port Angeles and challenger Lisa Dublin of Sequim had generated a combined $63,555 in campaign contributions in preparation for Tuesday, the final day of general election voting.
Dublin, a division chief administrative law judge for the state Office of Administrative Hearings in Tacoma since 2018 and an administrative law judge since 2010, has $33,835 in contributions.
Of that, she contributed $20,208 and had spent $30,504 as of Friday. Dublin’s expenditures include $3,000 to Port Angeles Lefties baseball team owner Matt Acker for consultant services.
“He introduced people to us and introduced Lisa to the local community,” Dublin’s husband, Shawn Lovell said, adding Acker was adept at “helping us get the word out and helping us with the campaign.”
Dublin did not speak to the campaign finances, saying that she felt it would unethical for her to serve as her own treasurer. Dublin’s expenditures included $2,000 on a social media campaign, $13,900 on newspaper and radio advertising, more than $3,500 for about 500 campaign signs and $124 for 50 campaign buttons. Dublin also sent out a fundraising letter to friends and family.
“We certainly learned a lot in the process,” Lovell said.
Her local contributors included $500 each from Linda Crow and John Crow of Port Angeles and Vern Frykholm of Sequim.
Dublin and Erickson received contributions of $1,500 from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
Erickson had $29,720 in contributions as of Friday, spending all but $388 as of Friday. Erickson contributed $21,935 to her campaign in cash and in-kind contributions and received two contributions of $1,250 each from Mindy Howard and Mike Erickson of Seattle.
Her expenditures included $11,395 for newspaper advertising, $4,855 for radio advertising, more than $7,000 to Laurel Black Design of Port Angeles and $3,600 for a website. Erickson did not do outreach for campaign support but had campaign volunteers helping out and was open to questions from residents, she said.
“I always answered every question and tried to be open and as transparent as I can be,” Erickson said. She had campaign signs up but did not do mailers.
“I had what I was going to do and that was what it was going to be,” Erickson said.
Dublin and Erickson were assessed for the judge position in a recent Clallam County Bar Association Survey in which 55 of the organization’s 81 dues-paying members participated. Erickson was rated well-qualified in four categories, while Dublin was rated just under the threshold for qualified in three of four categories. The two also participated in a bar association forum, answering questions from the membership’s lawyers.
Dublin declined to answer a questionnaire that was part of the rating process that was provided to Erickson and which Erickson filled out. The questionnaire has been used by Gov. Jay Inslee in making judicial appointments.
“Despite this, my name was included in the bar poll, without any questionnaire answers, and with a predictable outcome,” Dublin said in a prepared statement.
Bar Association President Doug Kresl said Friday that Dublin had filled out the Inslee questionnaire for the bar association survey when she applied earlier this year for Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour’s position but that he decided not to use it because he knew Dublin objected to the process.
Dublin criticized the process as subjective and based partly on the members’ personal knowledge of the candidates. She said she took part in the lengthy vetting and rating process of five statewide independent bar associations: the Asian Bar Association, the Latino/Latina Bar Association, the Cardozo Society, Washington Women Lawyers, and QLaw.
She said they each rated her as “well qualified” to serve as a superior court judge.
Erickson, a former Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney and former Port Angeles City Council member, received a lesser rating of “qualified” from the Washington Women Lawyers.
Dublin has represented clients in criminal cases in state district and municipal court, but not in federal district and federal appeals courts, where she represented clients in civil matters.
“I’m feeling good,” she said Friday as the campaign came to a close. “I’m looking forward to Tuesday and serving as the next Clallam County Superior Court judge.
“The best part about [the campaign] was the amazing people I got to know. My love for the community just grew and grew.”
Erickson said the campaign was time-consuming.
“It’s a lot of work, that’s what I will say,” she said.
“I have not taken any time off work to do it. I’ve been paid to be a Superior Court judge, so that’s what I do.”
The following campaign finance information for Clallam County Superior Court candidates Lisa Dublin and Lauren Erickson is collected by the state Public Disclosure Commission. Detailed data on contributions and expenditures for candidates who spend more than $5,000 on their campaigns is available at tinyurl.com/PDN-FollowMoney by clicking on the search icon and typing in Dublin’s or Erickson’s name.
Lisa Dublin
Candidate registration with the PDC, after which campaign contributions can be collected: May 20, 2020.
Starting balance: $0.00.
Contributions: $33,835.
Cash contributions: $26,958.
In-kind contributions: $6,877.
Loans: $0.00.
Total: $33,835.
Expenditures: $30,504.
Third-party expenditures: $0.00.
Debt: $0.00.
Contributions more than $1,000:
• $20,208: Lisa Dublin, Sequim.
• $1,500: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Sequim.
Contributions of $1,000-$200 from Clallam and Jefferson counties:
• $500: Linda Crow, John Crow, Port Angeles; Vern Frykholm, Sequim.
• $200: Liz Zenonian-Waud, Lisa Millar, Sequim.
Lauren Erickson
Candidate registration with the PDC, after which campaign contributions can be collected: May 11, 2020.
Starting balance: $0.00.
Contributions: $29,720.
Cash contributions: $27,810.
In-kind contributions: $1,910.
Loans: $0.00.
Total: $29,720.
Expenditures: $29,332.
Third-party expenditures: $232.
Debt: $0.00.
Contributions more than $1,000:
• $21,935: Lauren Erickson, includes $1,910 in-kind contributions.
• $1,500: Jamestown Tribal Council, Sequim.
• $1,250: Mindy Howard, Mike Erickson, Seattle.
Contributions of $1,000-$200 from Clallam and Jefferson counties:
• $600: Karen Unger, Port Angeles.
• $250: Kathleen Benedict, William Benedict, Sequim.
• $200: Dick Manning, Port Angeles.