"Rossi's Money is from Washingtonians, Gregoire's Money is from Party Bosses and Out-of-State Special Interests"

Not suprising really, as the Queen is so despised in Washington, generating virtually no enthusiasm among members of her own party (a Democratic incumbent in a strongly Blue State with only 50% of the vote is in big, big trouble).

The following is a press release today from the Rossi campaign:

Rossi’s Money is from Washingtonians, Gregoire’s Money is from Party Bosses and Out-of-State Special Interests

Rossi Leads in In-State, Regular Donor Fundraising

Redmond, WA – After more than three years of campaigning, Christine Gregoire has raised nearly $6.8 million dollars. What her campaign won’t advertise is the fact that a large portion of her money comes from out-of-state special interests and the Washington State Democratic Party.

“Christine Gregoire has raised a lot of money for her campaign. Unfortunately a lot of it is coming from people she isn’t elected to represent as governor,” said Jill Strait, Rossi spokesperson. “With over 26 percent of her campaign contributions coming from out-of-state special interests and state party checks, it’s clear she does not have the type of grassroots support she claims.”

A closer look at Gregoire’s fundraising numbers:

State Party Money

Gregoire raised $785,000 in May, however $200,000 of that came from the Washington State Democratic Party. According to her PDC reports, she has received a total of $695,704 from the Washington State Democratic Party. This equals 10.2 percent of her total campaign dollars.

Rossi raised $701,000 in May, with $40,000 coming from the Washington State Republican Party. The $40,000 from May is the only party contribution Rossi has received.

Conclusion: Rossi actually outraised Gregoire among individual donors during the month of May - $661,000 to $585,000. Gregoire takes money from the state party in order to inflate her fundraising totals.

Out-of-State Money

According to Gregoire’s May PDC report, she has received at least $1,085,444 in itemized out-of-state contributions. This equals 16 percent of her total dollars raised. Her actual out-of-state numbers are undoubtedly much higher because PDC reports do not itemize donations under $25, so our numbers only include publicly known donors.

By comparison, as of the end of May, Rossi has received $120,553 in out-of-state contributions. This equals 2.34 percent of his total dollars raised.

Conclusion: Rossi’s campaign is actually supported by the people and businesses in Washington state. In fact, if you subtract out-of-state dollars and contributions from state parties from both candidates’ fundraising totals as of June 8th, Rossi has already raised more money than Gregoire - $5.188 million to $5.124 million.