Public Disclosure Commission - Who is Flush With Money?
You find out the most fascinating information at the PDC (Public Disclosure Commission) about candidates.
To note, school board campaigns are generally not big money campaigns in any way, shape or form. But anything over about $25K merits a look.
These races are a lot like races for judges - people feel kind of lost about who to vote for.
If you look at voter stats, the number of people who vote for mayor is quite high but as you go down ballot, voter numbers drop off. So WHO you can get to vote for you for school board, those numbers get hugely important. If you have people/groups who can mobilize in numbers, you are likely to win because of those low voter numbers for school board.
But more importantly who drives campaigns forward - influential people and groups - that helps a candidate win for school board.
Let's dive in. (I am only going to address the two highest in each race with one exception.)
District 2 - Sarah Clark versus Kathleen Smith
Smith who has a modest $900, most of that coming from the Washington Education Association PAC.
Clark has a bigger, although still not huge, war chest of $10K. The top donation - $1200 - came from political strategist, Sandeep Kaushik, who works at Sound View Strategies. (Disclosure: I do know Sandeep and we occasionally talk politics.)
This makes for an interesting race because Smith has The Stranger endorsement while the Times'went with Clark. The Stranger endorsement carries a LOT of weight in Seattle and they have masses of readers who do vote.
Who gave Clark money? You are going to see a pattern as I go along in reporting contributions. Besides Kaushik, there is former school board candidates Ben Gitenstein and Suzanne Dale Estey and former directors Michael DeBell and Peter Maier.
What's really intriguing is that Vivian Song also gave her money ($500). You'll see DeBell, Maier, and Song come up a lot and what's interesting is that Song lists herself as "unemployed."
PDC Findings
District 4 - Laura Marie Rivera vs Joe Mizrahi
Both are doing well in donations but Mizrahi's dwarfs all others. Rivera has $25K while Mizrahi has a whopping $40K.
Rivera has both Washington State Education Association and Washington State Democrats donating along with Dale Chihuly and his wife.
Mizrahi has Washington State Education PAC as well as two donations from Song, multiple union donations and former directors Peter Maier and Steven Sundquist.
That's an interesting disconnect between WEA and WEA PAC.
District 5 - Vivian Song versus Janis White
White has a modest $9K and she also has the endorsement of former directors Kay Smith Blum, Leslie Harris, Sherry Carr, and Steve Sundquist.
Song has $30K. That came from the WEA PAC and former director Lisa Rivera plus former candidate Ben Gitenstein. Song herself has donated a lot of money to her campaign.
Interestingly, former director Stephen Sunquist gave money to both candidates in this race.
Landon Labosky, another D5 candidate, has raised $6,000.
District 7 - Jen LaVallee versus Carol Rava
Rava has a large amount at nearly $25K and all of it in individual contributions. Besides the usual suspects of DeBell and Maier, she also has Sara Morris who formerly headed The Alliance for Education and Jessica de Barros, a former charter school commissioner. (I have heard that Rava supports charter schools but need to verify that.)
Rava also spent some campaign money to attend a "K12 finance" course at Georgetown University which was about $1750 just for the course itself. She also paid $6,000 to a group called NW Passage Consulting.
LaVallee has a modest $5400 with $600 coming from the the WEA.
As I mentioned in my post on whether a slate is forming (I'm calling them The Four), it feels like a slate is. If you look at endorsements, Rava seems a bit outside looking in but I'm sure she would be glad to be part of that slate.
Endorsements
Within The Four, three of them endorsed each other - Song, Clark, Mizrahi. Rava has no endorsements from current Board directors.
D2
Sarah Clark has Mizrahi, Song, and Topp. Even though some former directors gave her money, they have not publicly endorsed her. Among her, Mizrahi, and Song, she has the fewest endorsements. That SEA gave their endorsement to Smith, not Clark, is notable.
Kathleen Smith has The Stranger, the SEA, and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund and no single endorsers.
D4
Mizrahi has huge endorsements like Governor Bob Ferguson and Representative Pramilla Jayapal. This is impressive but also feels like Mizrahi, like Song, may be looking ahead. He is endorsed by Clark, Board president Gina Topp, Director Brandon Hersey, and former director Lisa Rivera. (I note that his race is the only one that Hersey has endorsed.)
Rivera has the SEA, state superintendent Chris Reykdal, a bunch of LDs, and the WEA PAC.
D5
Song has Topp, Clark, Lisa Rivera, DeBell, Sunquist as well as former directors Betty Patu and Sally Soriano plus SEA and many other groups. Very impressive. For someone who wasn't in public office long, she has really gathered a lot of people around her.
White also has very good endorsements that seem to have a wider reach than other candidates. She has King County Young Dems, Democrats for Diversity and Inclusion, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund, the National Women's Political Caucus of Washington, and Local 587. (That she managed to get even one union is impressive.)
What I find compelling is that Topp ALSO endorsed White as did Harris, Smith-Blum, and Carr plus former candidate Vivian van Gelder.
D7
Jen LaVallee has the endorsement of SEA, WEA PAC, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund, and the National Women's Political Caucus of Washington. She has no endorsements of current or former board directors.
Carol Rava has Carr, DeBell, Harris, Maier, and Sundquist. She also has the endorsement of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group that counts me as a member but that is her ONLY group endorsement. Not good.
Comments
But is this the best trio for our students? NO
Song is looking after her own interests and her agenda, personal and otherwise. Students are not her priority. Janis is not perfect but absolutely invested in student outcomes. Vote White.
Mizrahi, same thing. Political ambitions over students. Likes to share deep thoughts through the media but has no backbone on the dais. Wanted Brent Jones to continue destroying this district. Jones is now out under suspicious circumstances. Maybe under investigation? Time will tell.
Laura Marie Rivera, Doctor Laura Marie Rivera. Maybe in another life. The perennial candidate, with passion and intention but just bad timing whether appointments that didn’t pan out and went to Dury and Mizrahi, or election that went to Song under suspicious circumstances. Vote Rivera.
Sarah Clark, for someone that barely attends meetings and when she does she is either putting lipstick on or eating a burger… what can we expect? Wondering why she’s got so much $$$. Suspicious. Time will tell.
Kathleen Smith, a new comer with I would assume little knowledge of the ins and outs of this district. But I venture to say anyone would be an upgrade. Vote Smith.
* To note, Song co-founded her own PAC, chaired by Robert Cruickshank. It’s all fixed.
Insider
Smith because she’s for the state making good on its constitutional paramount duty, not closing schools, holding SPS accountable for data-based decisions, and LBTGQ kids feeling safe in schools.
LaValle because she’s not a charter supporter. Enough said. Support public schools.
Mizrahi because he is a strong and thoughtful board member, leads with compassion and strategy, and he listens to and supports families, students, and educators. I find Rivera to be ethically suspect and too chummy with SOFG supporters.
Song because she digs deep into data and issues, develops strong strategies, and is excellent at communicating with SPS students, families, and educators.
I feel good about my choices now. I’m continuing to watch the campaigns for new developments but unless something swings wildly, I’m pleased to vote for Smith, Song, Mizrahi, and LaValle.
-SpEd Mom in D2
Bueller
Oh, and while recovering, she showed up while literally hobbling on crutches to Whittier Elementary School to support their Drag Queen Storytime when right-wing talk radio attacked it. Smith was nowhere to be seen.
Smith has hedged on whether she'd close schools. She's running as a Liza Rankin clone and so she'll just do whatever Rankin wants her to do, as Smith isn't very bright and doesn't really understand SPS very well. Besides, if Smith opposed closing schools, why would she run against the board member (Clark) who led the fight against closing schools on the board?
Ballard Parent
Second, not sure why someone not running at the time for the Board would show up to a school for an event.
Third, your last point does not hold water. But I will be asking Ms. Smith about many views.