When Sen. Tim Sheldon sent $10K to the Republican Senate Campaign Committee in 2002, $7K of it came before the election when the Republicans took back control of the Senate. While $10K may not be a lot in the grand scheme of things, it may have actually swung the election, it was so freakin’ close.
Said Chris Vance in 2002:
The post-election lay of the land is this: Republicans lost two seats in the state House and are in a 46-52 minority. In the state Senate, however, the GOP came from behind to capture a 25-24 majority
…
In the campaigns for state Senate, on the other hand, Republicans showed the strength of our get-out-the-vote drive. Of the seven competitive Senate races, the GOP won six. Winning the majority in one chamber of the state Legislature — while the House and governor’s office are still controlled by the Democrats — is no small feat. It means Republicans will be able to help set the agenda for the upcoming legislative session.
So who were the Democrats that lost to Tim Sheldon and the RSCC in 2002?
Laurie Dolan lost to Jim West (yes, that Jim West) by less than 2,000 votes out of almost 50,000 cast in LD 6.
Betty Ringlee lost to Robert Oke 49.5 percent to 50.4 percent up in Kitsap County. This is the same seat that Rep. Derek Kilmer has a good chance at winning this year, if Sheldon doesn’t ship money off to his opponent, Lois McMahan (yes, that Lois McMahan).
Yvonne Ward lost to Pam Roach (yes, Pam Roach) by just over a thousand votes and a couple of percentage points in LD 31.
Georgia Gardner lost in the 42nd to Dale Brandland, where a Green Party candidate pulled enough votes that would have put Gardner on top.
Phil Doerflein (47 percent) lost to David Schmidt (53 percent) in LD 44.
Deborah Jacobson (45 percent) lost to Stephen Johnson (55 percent) in LD 47.
You people are sick…I’ve never read such a stretch of the imagination in my life.
Well, he contributed $10,000 in the year the Republican party took control of the Senate. Not sure how an illness on my part contributed to that observation, but thanks for checking in Anonymous of Union WA.
I’m Anonymous of Tumwater, WA, and there’s no denying that Sheldon gave $10,000 in surplus funds to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. That’s no illness on the part of the blog’s author, that’s the truth. And apparently, anonymous of Union, WA can’t handle the truth.