
	Chris Mulick has worked for the Herald since 1998 and has served as the statehouse correspondent covering state government and politics since 2000. He works year-round out of the Herald's Olympia bureau on the state Capitol campus. Have a question? Send Chris an e-mail and he'll answer the best questions regularly.

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Friday, Aug. 08, 2008

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Why you field candidates who are likely to lose

If you’re leading a legislative caucus you’ve got two good reasons to field candidates in races you’re likely to lose anyway.

Your candidate, perhaps bolstered by circumstances unforeseen during filing week, might just pull the unthinkable and win.

Secondly, you’ll make the other party’s incumbent spend their money.

Case in point. Take a look at two of the Senate Republicans most talented fundraisers, Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, and Don Benton, R-Vancouver.

Hewitt is running unopposed this year and of the near $156,000 he’d reported raising as of July 28, almost $152,000 had yet to be spent. You can bet most of that money will end up in the coffers on the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, which will use it to support its vulnerable incumbents and its most promising challengers.

Benton on the other hand has drawn a challenge from Democrat David Carrier, who hasn’t exactly set the world on fire having raised less than $9,000 through July 28.

But Benton, who had raised a whopping $189,000, reported a balance of just $103,000. And, depending on how well Carrier polls in the otherwise meaningless primary, Benton may not be in a position to cut a huge check to the campaign committee this year.

And that would be a nice victory for the Democrats even if Carrier loses in November.

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