Did Tacoma Weekly sell political endorsements to candidates? PDC investigating
The Washington state Public Disclosure Commission is reviewing complaints alleging the Tacoma Weekly newspaper sold political endorsements.
The complaint, opened by the PDC on Oct. 1, was filed by Tacoma resident Luke Byram and includes an attachment of a flyer advertising a $2,500 package that appears to include a weekly editorial, a cover story and a “Tacoma Weekly endorsement.”
The flyer reads, “Let’s get you elected!”
State law prohibits a person from soliciting from a candidate “money or other property as a condition or consideration for an endorsement, article or other communication in the news media promoting or opposing a candidate for public office, political committee or political party” (RCW 42.17A.480).
In the complaint, Byram said the newspaper “does not help voters make informed decisions when campaigns pay for their endorsement in newspapers and advertising.”
Tacoma Weekly publisher John Weymer, reached by phone Oct. 16, told The News Tribune that the flyer was sent to candidates by accident.
“An uncorrected version went out to the candidates, and it was immediately corrected,” Weymer said. “We do not sell our endorsements.”
Weymer reiterated what happened in a statement to the PDC last week, which included a corrected version of the flyer. The flyer shows a similar advertisement package, but without the endorsement or $2,500 cost of the package listed.
“The Tacoma Weekly has an editorial policy of not endorsing candidates,” the statement read. “We are hands-off in telling voters whom they should vote for, and we certainly would not accept money in exchange for endorsements.”
While the newspaper doesn’t frequently endorse candidates, it has in the past, including an endorsement for Mary Robnett for Pierce County prosecutor in 2018.
The flyer first gained attention in September after it was shared on Twitter by Evelyn Fielding Lopez, former executive director of the PDC.
“Campaign finance, political advertising, and endorsement DON’Ts,” Lopez wrote on the social media site on Sept. 14. “The Tacoma Weekly’s endorsements are for sale, as part of an ad package. Violating our campaign finance laws, and creating legal violations for candidates who choose this very bad option.”
Lopez also submitted a complaint to the PDC last week. In her complaint, which she shared with The News Tribune, Lopez attached a screenshot of an email dated Aug. 5 sent by Tacoma Weekly editor Matt Nagle to candidates, offering the advertising package that appeared to include an endorsement.
Lopez detailed in her complaint that two candidates had campaign purchases for Tacoma Weekly on their financial records and recently had articles about them in the newspaper. Republican Jason Whalen, running against Democrat Jani Hitchen for Pierce County Council, District 6, paid $2,500 to Tacoma Weekly on Aug. 25, according to the PDC. Independent Javier Figueora, running against Democrat Ryan Mello for Pierce County Council, District 4, paid $2,500 for a Tacoma Weekly ad campaign on Aug. 8.
Whalen told The News Tribune via email on Monday that he never paid for a Tacoma Weekly endorsement and never received one.
“I did purchase an advertising package from the Tacoma Weekly (and reported the expenditure in my PDC report), that I am using to talk about the important issues before voters this election: improving and increasing mental health services, reforming our police, and creating more affordable housing,” he said in a statement.
Figueroa did not respond to a request for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Weymer told The News Tribune the accident stemmed from a miscommunication between Nagle and him. An endorsement was never supposed to be part of the advertisement package, he said, but rather a separate part of the flyer indicating that candidates could meet with staff for possible news coverage or endorsement. The flyer was only sent via email to a small group.
Weymer said it was an honest mistake that was corrected the same day it was sent.
“It’s not a reflection on Tacoma Weekly as a paper,” Weymer said. “It’s been around for too long and it’s too loved for this to stain it.”
The PDC is undergoing an “assessment of facts” for the complaints.
Kim Bradford, spokesperson for the PDC, said that means the case is “under review to determine if the PDC can administratively resolve it (which can range from a dismissal to a reminder or warning to a Statement of Understanding in which the respondent admits to a violation and pays a small penalty), or whether we will need to open a formal investigation.”
The PDC has 90 days to decide if a case can be administratively resolved or to open a formal investigation.
