Local legislator Jim Walsh, seen here at an event in early 2024, chairs the Washington State Republican Party, which has been found in violation of campaign-finance rules.

OLYMPIA — Washington’s campaign watchdog levied a $5,000 fine against the state Republican Party last week, finding that the committee led by 19th District legislator Jim Walsh committed campaign finance and political advertising violations over the past two years.

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) announced the fine Oct. 30, after PDC staff filed administrative charges against the Washington State Republican Party earlier that month and heard testimony in the case Oct. 24.

The commission found four violations in its written order, concluding that the state party made an illegal contribution to a political committee, accepted anonymous contributions beyond what state law permits, failed to identify who the sponsor of a text message was during the 2023 election, and delayed reporting that expenditure until after the election was over.

Violation details

The party made a $100,000 contribution from its exempt fund for unallowed activities to Let’s Go Washington, the committee behind the slate of initiatives on this year’s general election ballot. While state party committees can have exempt funds that are not subject to contribution limits, they can only be used for limited purposes — get-out-the-vote drives, sample ballots, internal costs or independent expenditures. Using exempt funds to make direct contributions to other campaigns is prohibited.

The PDC found that the state party failed to disclose the source of contributions during the current election cycle, and deposited $106,500 in over-limit anonymous contributions into its accounts. Campaigns and committees are capped at accepting no more than $500 or 1% of their total contributions in a calendar year from anonymous sources.

The contributors were eventually disclosed by the party just a couple of days prior to the hearing. However, if a committee knows the source of a contribution, it cannot be hidden from the public as “anonymous,” even if it falls within the $500 or 1% threshold.

And during last year’s election for a school board race in the Bothell area, the commission dinged the state party for failing to include sponsor identification information in a campaign text — information that campaigns are required to disclose as part of a political advertisement. A PDC investigation linked the message to the state party, which acknowledged it had sponsored the ad. The party also submitted expenditure reports related to the message nearly three months late.

The PDC can issue fines of up to $10,000 per violation, so the $5,000 fine comes in well below the maximum that could have been doled out. Additionally, $1,000 of the total penalty can be suspended if the state party meets certain conditions, including transferring $100,000 from its non-exempt fund to its exempt fund to reimburse the illegal expenditure.

Walsh questions timing

The state party can ask the PDC to reconsider its order within 10 days of it being issued, or appeal the order to superior court within 30 days.

In a statement, Walsh, who has served as chair since August 2023, said the party “will consider all options in responding to the PDC’s conclusions, as allowed by law and tradition.” He said the violations regarded “a grab-bag of minor WAGOP projects.”

“The Washington State Republican Party always cooperates with the Public Disclosure Commission and supports transparency at all levels of campaign finance,” Walsh said, adding “the timing of these hasty conclusions is worth noting — right around the general election.”