Were back to taking a monthly look at the most notable fundraising performances by candidates for state office and, before we get to the particulars, theres a few things worth noting.
For the most part, legislators and other statewide office holders subject to the freeze on campaign fundraising during the legislative session did not immediately begin raking in dough when the freeze was lifted March 14.
Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, would be a notable exception. He raised $11,659.81 between March 14 and March 31. Otherwise most office-holders reported cashing only a handful of checks if any at all.
Its also worth drawing special attention to the more than $55,000 rookie Supreme Court Justice Debra Stephens raised to get her first campaign off the ground.
And for our Tri-City readers, well note that Heart of American Northwest Director Gerald Pollet raised more than $7,600 in March to bring his total to more than $8,800 in his bid for a state House seat in Seattle.
There may be other notable filings that will show up late (C-4s were due on the 10th people!) and Ill add them to the bottom of this list in the days to come.
So heres the list of notable fundraisers from last month.
Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg reported raising more than $24,000 in March to bring his campaign total for his Democratic bid for Attorney General to over $105,000. Republican incumbent Rob McKenna had raised almost $733,000 for his campaign by March 31.
In an interesting race for the Democratic bid for state Treasurer ChangMook Sohn raised almost $55,000 in March to bring his total to more than $65,000. Seattle Rep. Jim McIntire had raised about $64,000 through March.
In another interesting Democratic race to replace Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, Reuven Carlyle reported raising more than $19,000 in March to bring his total to over $72,000. John Burbank raised almost $15,000 last month to bring his total to near $30,000.
We had previously mentioned the near $30,000 Peter Goldmark raised last month in his Democratic bid for Lands Commissioner, bringing his campaign total to over $217,000. Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland had raised $174,000 through March.
Others worth mentioning briefly were Melvin Lindauer, a Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Don Barlow in the 6th District, Democrat Deborah Swail, who is taking on Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, and Fred Finn, a Democrat seeking to replace retiring Rep. Bill Eickmeyer, D-Belfair. All raised more than $10,000 for their campaigns last month.
UPDATE: Thank you sir, may I have another?
Former state Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, raised almost $24,700 last month in his bid to return to the Legislature. He's running against Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland.