PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles City Council member and a candidate who wants him and three other incumbents voted out of office are the top campaign money raisers as the deadline for submitting general election ballots approaches on Nov. 2.
With just four more days for voters to make their choices in the Nov. 2 election, Position 3 council member Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, who is running against Jena Stamper, and John Procter, who is seeking to unseat Position 4 incumbent Kate Dexter, have the largest war chests in the Port Angeles City Council races, according to interviews and their filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission (pdc.wa.gov).
Procter, a retired veterinarian who has raised $13,946 in a largely self-financed campaign, has donated $1,000 to Stamper’s campaign and $500 to Adam Garcia, who is running against appointed incumbent LaTrisha Suggs.
“I’d like to see our city council go in a different direction,” Procter said.
Schromen-Wawrin, sarcastically describing Procter is Stamper’s “running mate,” said he believes contributors were motivated by Stamper’s open protests of the proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandate of Dr. Allison Berry for indoor restaurant dining. Schromen-Wawrin has raised $14,237.
Below are contributor listings of $100 or more from candidates’ PDC filings and from interviews Wednesday and Thursday.
Position 1
Adam Garcia, who is challenging appointee LaTrisha Suggs, is a mini-filer who said he has raised $2,400, spent $1,124 and plans to donate the remainder of his contributions to a nonprofit organization, possibly the Clallam County Veterans Center.
His 14 contributions include $500 from Tom Curry, owner of Barhop Brewing in Port Angeles, and $200 each from Shirley Clark and Benjamin Pisciotta of Port Angeles.
Garcia said he was not worried that Suggs outraised and outspent him.
“If buying an election is a good thing, so be it,” he said
Suggs, a Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe restoration planner, has $6,986 in contributions, including $4,000 from the two tribes.
She saw her money advantage as reinforcement for her supporters that she is serious about the campaign, spending most of it on buttons, mailers, and 100 yard signs, leaving her $651.
Suggs
Starting balance: $0.00.
Contributions: $6,986.
Cash contributions: $6,915.
In-kind contributions: $71.
Loans: $0.00.
Total: $6,986.
Expenditures: $6,335.
Debt: $0.00.
Independent (third-party) expenditures: $0.00.
Contributors:
$2,000: Lower Elwha Kallam Tribe, Port Angeles; Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles.
$500: Lloyd Lehman, Port Angeles.
$300: William Peterson, Geraldine Mueller, Sequim.
$200: Clallam County Democratic Central Committee, Port Angeles.
$150: Fuse Votes, Seattle.
$125: Ronald Richards, Nina Richards, Port Angeles.
$112.50: David Habib, Catherine L. Habib, Kirkland; Margaret Laliberte, Antonio M. Laliberte, Clyde Hill.
$100: Ed Chadd, Susan Chadd, Port Angeles; Celeste Dybeck, Port Townsend; Lana Kerr, Sequim.
Position 2
Incumbent Mike French, owner of First Street Haven restaurant in Port Angeles, said he raised $475 and has not spent any of it.
His contributors, all from Clallam County, include Jenny Peterson, Ron and Nina Richards, and Clallam County Democrats, all $100 each, and 24th District state Sen. Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim, $50.
French, who had 57 percent of the vote among three Aug. 3 primary candidates, said he did not actively seek donations.
“I used the primary as a barometer, so to speak,” he said.
Challenger John Madden, a contractor, who filed to spend less than $5,000 on his campaign, could not be reached for comment.
Position 3
Schromen-Wawrin, who gained 41.4 percent of the primary vote to Stamper’s 37.3 percent and Jason Thompson’s 21.2 percent, said he concentrated on spending funds on mailers.
“You’re not necessarily reaching your voters with yard signs that are just kind of reaching out to everybody,” he said.
Stamper listed $6,823 in contributions, including $350 from Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Connie Beauvais, a former Republican candidate for the state Legislature. Stamper could not be reached for comment.
Schromen-Wawrin
Starting balance: $491.
Contributions: $13,746.
Cash contributions: $13,616.
In-kind contributions: $130.
Loans: $0.00.
Total: $14,237.
Expenditures: $8,737.
Independent (third-party) expenditures
For: $62.
Against: $0.00.
Debt: $0.00.
Contributors:
$1,000: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Sequim, $1,000; Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles, $1,000.
$535: Small contributions.
$500: Johnson Rutz & Tassie, Port Angeles; Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund PAC, Voter Action PAC, Seattle.
$450: Alexandra Loeb, Seattle.
$250: Holly Marklyn, Seattle; Patricia Schromen, Port Angeles.
$225: Tony Laliberte, Clyde Hill; Catherine Habib, Kirkland.
$220: Proceeds from fundraiser.
$200: Dorothy Stroman, Gainesville, Fla.; Ronald Wawrin, Myrna Schaaf, Susan Steele, Ed Chadd, Port Angeles; Therese Stokan, Neah Bay.
$150: Steve Bearman, Susan Chadd, Port Angeles; Fuse Votes, Seattle; William Peterson, Sequim.
$125: Ronald Richards, Nina Richards, Barbara Maxwell, Michael Maxwell, Shyla Wilcox, Richard Wilcox, Adrian Hoban, Port Angeles.
$100: Clallam County Democratic Central Committee, Tara Demers, Scot Athair, Scott Schaffer, Cheyenne Tuller, Elisabeth Hegyi, Jeffrey Bohman, John Herring, Eileen Herring, Laura Behr, Carolyn Muench, Port Angeles; Florence Peterson, Sequim; Gabriella Mickel, Toledo, Ohio; Brough Jones, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Garrett Holbrook, Rory Henneck, Seattle; Tara Lopez, Espanola, N.M.
Stamper
Cash contributions: $6,237.
In-kind contributions: $586.
Loans: $0.00.
Total contributions: $6,823.
Expenditures: $5,959.
Independent (third-party) expenditures: $0.00.
Debt: $0.00.
Contributors:
$1,000: John Procter, Port Angeles.
$500: David S. Parks, Darlene Heskell, Backus Marketing and Design, in-kind, Port Angeles.
$350: Connie Beauvais, Jim Beauvais, Joyce.
$300: Stamper Chiropractic, Port Angeles.
$250: Laura Edwards, Dave Reeve, Laura Reeve, Port Angeles.
$210: Small contributions.
$202: Proceeds from low-cost fundraiser.
$200: Shirley Clark, Benjamin Pisciotta, Micaelle Barnard, Port Angeles.
$166: Jena Stamper, Port Angeles.
$150: Tasha Bruch, Port Angeles.
$100: Ryan Stamper, Amanda Bennett, Jay McFarland, Port Angeles.
Position 4
Procter said most of his campaign expenditures paid for newspaper and radio advertising and a mailer, which he called “an expensive proposition.”
Procter said he has $1,300 left and has been turning down donors.
“I’m done,” he said. “The bills are paid.”
Dexter, a mini-filer, said she has raised $4,088, a contribution total that includes $170 of her own money for the filing fee.
She purchased 100 yard signs. The signs and a mailer were her largest expenditures, she said.
Her contributions of $100 or more were Sarah Dutrow and Dwight Waknitz, Port Angeles, $500; Nina and Ron Richards and Michael Maxwell, Port Angeles, $250; Paul Gleeson, Port Angeles, $125; Jared Scott, Port Angeles, $120, and Emily Dexter, Ed Chadd, Clallam County Democrats, Dawn and Richard French, Barb Maynes, and Olof Jarvegren, all of Port Angeles, $100; Florence Peterson, Sequim, $100; and Bob and Sandi Dexter of Seattle and Port Angeles.
Iris Winslow gave a $183 in-kind contribution.
Procter
Starting balance: $0.00.
Contributions: $3,705.
Cash contributions: $2,025.
In-kind contributions: $1,746.
Loans: $10,241.
Total contributions: $13,946.
Expenditures: $10,850.
Independent (third-party) expenditures: $0.00.
Debt: $0.00.
Contributors
$1,746: John Procter (in-kind).
$400: Dr. Russell DeGroote, Port Angeles.
$250: Chuck Whitney, Darlene Whitney, Port Angeles.
$200: Benjamin P. Pisciotta, Shirley Clark, Port Angeles.
$100: Michaelle Barnard, Tom O’Donnell, Rick Shadforth, Port Angeles.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin