(The Center Square) – Two judges vying for an open Washington Supreme Court seat refunded donors roughly $37,000 after the race advanced to November without the need for an August primary vote, state records show.
Five of the nine seats on the bench are up for election ahead of a ruling on the state’s new income tax.
Only two candidates filed campaigns ahead of the May deadline for the seat of retiring Justice Charles Johnson: Ian Birk, a Washington Court of Appeals Division I judge, and Sean O’Donnell, a King County Superior Court judge, so there is no need to narrow the field this summer before the general election.
Judicial candidates are limited to receiving $2,400 from each donor per election, so if three people file for one spot, the two who advance to November can accept up to $4,800 from each donor.
However, if only two people filed and each received more than $2,400 from a donor, they must refund the difference.
“Candidates are required to return overlimit contributions. If a candidate is not on the ballot for the primary, their contribution limits would be for a single election,” Natalie Johnson, spokesperson for Washington state’s Public Disclosure Commission, confirmed in a Tuesday email to The Center Square.
“A campaign that does not return overlimit contributions could be subject to enforcement,” she wrote, though PDC filings indicate that Birk and O’Donnell have reported refunds tied to the lack of a primary.
Birk did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square before publication on Tuesday.
After the initial publication deadline, Birk’s campaign responded, “Since the campaign does not know how many opponents it will have until filing week, donations are marked for Primary first and then General. If there is only one election, donations for the General are either reattributed or refunded. I wouldn’t characterize it as a hiccup, as it is standard practice across campaigns.”
Birk has raised more than any judicial candidate so far this year, reporting over $293,000 in campaign contributions as of June 15, with O’Donnell having raised the fourth most, reporting roughly $206,000.
O’Donnell explained in an email to The Center Square that three candidates initially filed for Position 4, then one of them dropped out unexpectedly, allowing him and Birk to advance to the general election.
“My campaign moved promptly to refund contributions exceeding the allowed [$2,400] for the general election. We refunded these contributions as quickly as possible to comply with PDC,” O’Donnell wrote.
According to a June PDC filing, Birk refunded $24,200 for 12 donations reported from February to May.
Two other PDC records, dated May 11 and June 1, indicate that O’Donnell refunded nearly $13,000 for campaign contributions he reported from January to March, citing the lack of a primary as the reason.
“It’s just a hiccup,” Tim Kovis, the president of Full Court Press, a nonprofit seeking to bring “balance” to the state Supreme Court, told The Center Square when asked if the refunds pose any sign of concern.
“[They] would have done what most any candidate would have done, raise as much money, and now the dynamic has changed, so, you know, [they’ll] refund that money and keep on going,” Kovis said.
Much of Birk’s financial support has come from attorneys and major plaintiff-side and trial-law firms.
He is endorsed by Attorney General Nick Brown, former Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, state Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon and Sen. Jamie Pedersen, who both sponsored the state’s new income tax, local Democratic parties, labor unions and the Washington Education Association, among others.
O’Donnell’s campaign has received significant support from the business, finance and tech sectors.
He is endorsed by prominent Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Adam Smith and Marilyn Strickland, former Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, prosecutors and judicial officers, the Washington Farm Bureau and the Washington Retail Association, among others.
“[This race] seems to be one to follow come the general election,” Kovis said on the race for Position 4.