King County Executive Ron Sims raised $111,958 in October, bringing his total to $283,434, according to the latest campaign cash reports filed this week with the Public Disclosure Commission. A third Democrat, Phil Talmadge, raised $10,448 in October.
All three leading Democrats and a couple of previously announced Republicans might want to look over their shoulders.
The campaign of Sen. Dino Rossi, who filed papers to run as a Republican a week ago, reported Tuesday that it has raised $132,500 and expects to catch up with Gregoire soon. Most of that has not been reported yet to the PDC, which shows $10,242 raised.
"I'm running against people who've run statewide before. I haven't. I have to make sure I have my story on the airwaves," Rossi said by telephone Tuesday.
He expects his campaign to cost between $4 million and $6 million, he said.
Rossi, a commercial real estate salesman from Samammish, predicted that prominent names in politics, including Democrats, will come to his side in the coming weeks as he builds his campaign momentum around a theme of creating jobs in Washington.
He kicked off a 17-city tour of the state Monday that began in Issaquah and is expected to end in Olympia in December, though his campaign hasn't settled on a date yet.
Fund-raising blackout
But, starting in mid-December, Rossi could be prevented by state campaign finance laws from raising money due to a freeze on fund-raising for lawmakers when the Legislature is in session. He has not decided if he'll quit the Senate in order to focus on his campaign, he said.
"I don't know yet if I am going to stay in the Senate. I'll probably make the decision the first week of December."
If Rossi stays in the Senate, it would be as budget chairman, so "I can keep the lid on the budget for the next majority leader" after Jim West, who was just elected Spokane mayor.
If Rossi leaves, he could continue fund raising during the four-month blackout period that runs 30 days before and after the coming 60-day legislative session, which begins Jan. 12.
"It's a significant amount of time to not be able to raise funds," Sims spokesman Jason Eakes said, noting that Gregoire, as attorney general, also would be prevented from raising money in that period. "Obviously, the Gregoire campaign wants to raise money before they go dark."
Gregoire ready to spend
Despite those developments, Gregoire has the upper hand in fund raising after entering the race in July, when Gov. Gary Locke said he would not seek a third term. And her campaign expects to raise and spend as heavily as Rossi's does.
"We believe we'll need to raise about $4 million as well," Gregoire campaign manager Tim Zenk said. "Money is unfortunately an important part of campaigns. But one of the things Democrats have that Republicans don't is people power, grass-roots organizing power."
So far, Gregoire has proven she can mobilize supporters. She received donations from 4,494 sources over three months, including some large donations of $2,500 from lawyers and other well-heeled supporters.
Several appointees in the Locke administration in Olympia are among those who gave her $1,000 each in October -- including Department of General Administration Director Rob Fukai, Liquor Control Board Chairman Merritt Long and other administrators in the liquor agency. Former Democratic State Lands Commissioner Jennifer Belcher gave $1,200, and other state employees gave $500 each.
Gregoire's large number of supporters is evidence "that the people of Washington want new, strong, progressive leadership that brings our people together to create jobs and improve our quality of life," she said in a campaign statement released this week.
None of Gregoire's Democratic foes is conceding much at this point, 10 months before the September 2004 primary. Phil Talmadge, the former state senator and ex-Supreme Court justice from Seattle, isn't giving up and won't, his spokeswoman Jean Hermanson said. Talmadge entered the race a year ago and has raised $74,047.
"We wish we had more money," Hermanson said. "We're continuing. We are gaining momentum. We are gaining support. We are not deterred. ... We do have some strategies."
Sims all along has compared the race to a marathon, and his October showing offered more evidence he is gaining traction, Eakes said.
Cruz tops GOP
Among Republicans, the campaign of Federico Cruz reported the most money raised so far -- $36,170 through October, with $25,052 coming in the previous 30 days alone.
Cruz, who is running as an outsider who wants to improve the health-care system, has welcomed Rossi as an opponent. Despite the senator's fund-raising edge, Rossi will be easy to cast as a part of the problem in Olympia where special interests can dominate decisions, Cruz said.
"We can see from all the campaigns, from Gregoire to Rossi to Sims, who the special interests are supporting," Cruz spokesman Scott Peterson asserted, while adding that he is pleased that doctors are contributing to the Cruz campaign.
But Peterson acknowledged their campaign is starting slowly, saying of Cruz: "He's starting from scratch running as an outsider. It's not going to happen overnight."
PDC numbers
The following candidates have filed papers with the Public Disclosure Commission showing what they have raised and spent as of Oct. 31:
-Christine Gregoire, Democrat: $743,588.61 raised, $174,193.80 spent
-Ron Sims, Democrat: $283,433.85 raised, $24,603.81 spent
-Phil Talmadge, Democrat: $74,046.94 raised, $59,825.23 spent
-Federico Cruz, Republican: $36,170 raised, $14,477.08 spent
-John W. Aiken Jr., Republican: $3,069.17 raised, $2,969.17 spent
-Donald D. Hansler, Democrat: $743.58 raised, $743.58 spent
-Dino Rossi, Republican: $10,242 raised. No other data are on file for Rossi at the PDC.
The Olympian Online