How Much Has Been Spent on Bellevue Council Races

Contributions are pouring into the Bellevue City Council race, . Here is a summary of the contributions to the council races so far, according to the Washington Pubilc Disclosure Commission.

Position 1

Aaron Laing and John Stokes are running for the seat that will be vacated by departing councilman Grant Degginger. Laing, an Enatai resident who announced his run in February, is a land use attorney and has outraised and outspent all the other candidates running for Bellevue City Council, including and who has attracted contributions including $1,600 from Bellevue Collection developer Kemper Freeman and $5,000 from the King County Republican Central Committee. Stokes, a retired attorney who has been involved in education issues and is a supporter of light rail, announced his run at the seat after Degginger announced that he would not run for re-election. Stokes' major contributors include $800 contributions from the Bellevue Club, construction company CH2M Hill, , and philantropist Ina Tateuchi.

More has been spent on council candidate Stokes by independent committees either for or against him than his own campaign has spent so far, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. About $21,800 has been spent on mailers questioning his background by Friends of Bellevue Families and Neighbors, a group funded by the Eastside Leadership Committee, which is a political action committee funded by developers Kemper Freeman, George Rowley and Robert Wallace.

However, nearly the same amount has been spent by committees supporting Stokes, including more than $1,600 spent by Move Bellevue Forward, a group that has advocated before the city council supporting the current Sound Transit East Link light rail plan, and more than $10,000 in literature by political action group Eastside Progress, a group funded by progressive group Fuse Washington, which advocates for progressive causes all over the state. Fuse Washington also has spent more than $7,000 in campaign literature in Bellevue in support of Stokes.

Position 3

Incumbent councilman John Chelminiak has raised $46,958.21 to challenger Michelle Hilhorst's $17,937.96. Chelminiak has been on the city council since 2003 and his largest contributors include $800 contributions from the Bellevue Club, construction company CH2M Hill, , and the Bellevue Firefighters Political Action Committee. Contributors to Hilhorst, a senior level manager at AT&T and a leader in the Newport Hills Community Club, include a $3,000 contribution from the Washington State Republican Party, and $800 contributions from Kemper Freeman's development company and wireless entrepreneur John Stanton.

Position 5

Incumbent councilwoman Claudia Balducci, running for her third term on the council, has also outraised and outspent her challenger, Patti Mann. Balducci's $70,459 in contributions include a $1,000 contribution from developer John Su, and $800 contributions from $800 contributions from the Bellevue Club, construction company CH2M Hill, , and the Bellevue Firefighters Political Action Committee.

Major contributors to Mann, a Seattle firefighter who has raised $42,043 for her campaign, include a $5,000 contribution from the King County GOP and $800 contributions from Kemper Freeman and wireless entrepreneur John Stanton.

Position 7

Jennifer Robertson, who has Bellevue City Council Position 7 since 2009, when she was chosen to fill the term Councilman Phil Noble, who died in office, is running unopposed. She had $38,000 on hand when she announced her run for her seat in April, and has since raised nearly $51,000. Her major contributors include $800 from the Bellevue Club, the Bellevue Firefighters political action committee and Kemper Freeman.

Contributions and Expenditures