Well-financed challenge from business interests fails in Puyallup council elections
Puyallup voters showed last week that thousands of dollars spent by business and development interests were not enough to influence their decisions in local races.
Preliminary results from the Pierce County Auditor’s Office show nearly every candidate with less money won in three of the four Puyallup City Council races.
The $62,000 raised by political action committee, Friends of Puyallup, did not influence enough voters to elect the candidates the PAC endorsed with flyers, mailers and surveys. Voters chose incumbents when given the option.
Friends of Puyallup did not respond for comment.
Mayor John Palmer, the biggest target of the PAC, won re-election to his council seat with about 53 percent of the vote as of Thursday’s count. Friends of Puyallup and the Associations of Washington Realtors sent out about 13 mailers in favor of Palmer’s opponent, Paul Hererra.
An estimated 89 percent of Friends of Puyallup donations were tied to developers interested in a project to build seven warehouses on a Shaw Road farm. The city won the right to issue permits and perform an environmental review after years of fighting with developers and Pierce County.
Palmer was a vocal opponent of the project and pushed for continued litigation, leading to a decision in the city’s favor. Land use and development sparked his political career eight years ago. While out knocking on doors, Palmer said the money made the warehouses a focal point of the election, not homelessness or traffic.
“It was a big factor in my election, and it was across all three districts,” Palmer said. “People are concerned about this project. It really hit a nerve with people.”
He said he was pleased the voters saw through the tens of thousands of dollars of outside money.
“It was a kind of an experiment if all that money, all those flyers would influence the voters.,” he said. “At the end of the day, it didn’t impact the outcome. I think it backfired.”
Money still matters
Political consultant Nic Van Putten with Progressive Strategies NW worked on Robin Farris’ District 1 race. He said while the incumbents won back their seats, their victories were tighter than expected. Big dollars help close gaps even if they don’t overtake a leading candidate.
Van Putten said he was surprised the races weren’t closer. Puyallup has always been a “tribal” city, he said, but Tuesday showed the active, anti-establishment voices are a minority.
“You get the sense of an anti-establishment upset with the city, and they don’t like the direction the city is going in,” Van Putten said. “Seeing those incumbents hold on, even though they were less popular than they were in prior elections, it speaks to the fact the broader swath of voters are not as upset as we thought.”
Incumbent Dean Johnson appears to have held on to his at-large position. His campaign raised nearly $46,000, according to PDC filings, which was record-breaking for a Puyallup candidate, according to the PDC’s public database.
His opponent, Heather Shadko, is known in the community. She was on the City Council until she lost her District 2 seat in 2017. Shadko had raised nearly $17,000 — about a third of Johnson’s funding.
She was behind by 62 votes as of Thursday, with 10,154 total votes cast.
Doorbelling
Another big takeaway from Tuesday is the power of showing face. The biggest way to turn a local race is to meet the voters, Van Putten said.
“It doesn’t take a candidate in Puyallup more than a few months to get out to every door,” he said. “In a jurisdiction where it’s possible, that is hands down the most effective way to win an election.”
District 3’s race for an open seat between Curt Gimmestad and Ned Witting highlighted the power of doorbelling. Witting, a retired entrepreneur, canvassed the district three times, he said. He appeared to be on his way to an easy victory with 65 percent of the vote against Gimmestad, the director of operations for Absher Construction Company.
Witting said it was the door-to-door engagements that made the difference. He focused on widely agreed upon issues, infrastructure and traffic reform.
“Bottom line, I believe people are tired of the tribalism,” he said. “My approach at the doors was that we want the same things in the Puyallup, so let’s work together to make that happen.”
