Politics does make for strange bedfellows. Or Oddfellows. Linda Derschang’s food and drink empire finds itself allied with the likes of Costco in its support for I-1100, one of two initiatives on November’s ballot to privatize liquor sales in Washington State. Not only has Derschang lent her face and name to the effort (check out the commercial she appeared in, below), she has helped bankroll the initiative by donating $1000 to the cause in the name of each of her four Seattle bars ($250 each). But she’s not the only one around Capitol Hill putting her money where her mouth is. CHS looked at state records for contributions to initiatives and ballot measures from the Hill’s three main ZIP codes, 98102, 98112 and 98122. Here’s what we found.

First, a reminder of what’s on this November’s ballot. The links will take you to http://wa.electionland.com/ for more information.

Derschang’s contributions don’t rank in the top 10 of Capitol Hill area contributors. Here’s the list of biggest givers in the three ZIP codes. All totals are through September 28 and includes any “in kind” giving of services, etc. in addition to cash. Top contributor Dean Allen is the CEO of Seattle construction giant McKinstry and has a Madison Park address. He threw his cash behind the R-52 bond measure that would finance construction and repair projects at schools across the state.

Here is a look at how the initiative committees rank in terms of financial support in our area. Our biggest outlays support two of the more socially minded items on the November ballot. The group Washingtonians for Education Health & Tax Relief supports 1098’s push to institute a state income tax for people who earn more than $200,000 or joint filers who earn more than $400,000. You’ll note the list also includes the Sensible Washington group that failed in its effort to bring a marijuana decriminalization initiative onto the ballot. In the second table below, we’ve shown the top five contributors for each committee.

We also rolled up the 94 contributors in the dataset by employer. Our favorite mix of businesses is for the supporters of Sensible Washington. Even though the group’s initiative didn’t make the ballot, we think any political union that brings together Boeing, the City of Seattle, Netmotion Wireless and Car Toys can’t be all bad.



