What happens to leftover campaign cash if you don’t win? Here’s what City Council District 1 ex-candidate Chas Redmond did

(Photos provided by Chas Redmond: Above, at WS Food Bank today with Judi Yazzolino, Lester Yuhand, and Christopher Dickie)

With two of nine candidates in the primary for Seattle City Council District 1 advancing to the general election, what’s next for the other seven? We heard today from one of them – Chas Redmond, who was first to start campaigning for the seat, and finished fifth. As far as we can recall, he’s the first ex-candidate who’s ever sent word of what he’s doing with the leftover campaign cash:

Now that I’m out of the race, I have to close out my campaign finances. I ran a very tight campaign and underspent my fundraising, meaning I had surplus funds at the conclusion of my run for office. I raised $12,467 and spent $9,967, making my cost-per-voter among the lowest, if not the lowest, of all 47 campaigns for City Council – my cost-per-voter was $7.86.

According to the Public Disclosure Commission, I can do several things with surplus campaign funds including donating them to non-profits and charities. Thanks again to all who donated. I had $2500 in surplus funds and have donated $1250 of those funds to Sustainable West Seattle and another $1250 of those funds to the West Seattle Food Bank.

(Above, at Sustainable WS picnic last night, presenting check to president Bryan Fiedorczyk)
As I kept saying throughout the campaign, there are no losers in this race, all of West Seattle and South Park are winners.

After receiving that announcement from Redmond, we asked him about future plans:

I’m working on a few ideas that still involve being an activist in local politics and I think it’s going to be really hard to take me out of the music scene, so music will remain part of my life. And I’m an active member of VIEWS, and we’re looking to do all sorts of cool things to increase engagement here in West Seattle in South Park. The campaign was amazing and getting to know everyone was even more amazing. West Seattle and South Park are very fortunate to have the quality of people running for public office and engaged in civic activities that we do. And finally, hats off to Lisa Herbold and Shannon Braddock, you were great competitors; I thoroughly enjoyed running with the pack.

We published the final election results after certification this past Tuesday.

22 Replies to "What happens to leftover campaign cash if you don't win? Here's what City Council District 1 ex-candidate Chas Redmond did"

  • Seagirl August 21, 2015 (2:53 pm)

    We feel grateful to have Chas in our Gatewood neighborhood and now we have one more reason! His energy and mindfulness is felt here and beyond. Thank you Chas for inspiring all of us to give what we can and being a great contributor to our community – whether it be money, compassion or spirit!

  • anonyme August 21, 2015 (3:00 pm)

    This is one very good example of why I voted for Chas Redmond. I was grateful not to have been swamped with crappy mailers from him – unlike his finalist competitors (whose campaign signs still litter the roadway). Once again, the big spending politicos win.

  • Chris Langeler August 21, 2015 (3:03 pm)

    This is wonderful. Kudos to Chas for living his values and giving those funds to a wonderful organization like the WS Food Bank!

  • HelperMonkey August 21, 2015 (3:26 pm)

    Chas Redmond – you are the best! I am now doubly glad I contributed and voted for you. The city council would have been lucky to have someone like you with a heart and a conscience.

  • wakeflood August 21, 2015 (3:30 pm)

    A big and heartfelt “thank you!” Chas. Grateful to have you in our community!!

  • Diane August 21, 2015 (3:38 pm)

    I would like to add another wonderful post-election kudos to Chas; I received a beautiful hand-written letter in the mail this week from Chas, thanking me for my support of his campaign; 1st of all, it was a shock to get something in the mail besides ads and bills; 2nd, it was such a lovely surprise to get mail from someone I know; 3rd, to get a very personalized hand-written thank you letter; wow!!! THANK YOU Chas; pure classy dude; and good friend

  • AmandaKH August 21, 2015 (3:40 pm)

    Chas is an awesome human!

  • David Whiting August 21, 2015 (3:46 pm)

    Thank you Chas, for this gesture and all that you do for the West Seattle and South Park. I challenge the other primary candidates, as well as Lisa Herbold and Shannon Braddock when their general election campaigns ends, to make a similar pledge to donate surplus funds to a District 1 based non-profit charity.

    David Whiting

  • RT August 21, 2015 (4:26 pm)

    Agree with all above. Exactly why I voted for Chas and continue to support his thoughtful engagement with our community. A wonderful example of his generous spirit and integrity.

  • sc August 21, 2015 (5:12 pm)

    Classy example! Hope others follow suit.

  • miws August 21, 2015 (6:52 pm)

    Good job, Chas!

    .

    Mike

  • Eaglelover August 21, 2015 (6:57 pm)

    What everyone else said, and why I voted for him, and my wife too. Solid.

  • LivesinWS August 21, 2015 (8:00 pm)

    Chas, your actions with donating the left over campaign funds, and letting he community know what you did with them, show the type of person you are — and why I voted for you.

    OK West Seattleites — when the next election rolls around and you’re not happy with what the bigger-$$$ candidates have done, let’s get Chas to run again. And win!

  • dsa August 21, 2015 (9:42 pm)

    In case it slipped by, what Chas said: “… my cost-per-voter among the lowest, if not the lowest, of all 47 campaigns for City Council – my cost-per-voter was $7.86….”

  • Ivan August 22, 2015 (5:50 am)

    @anonyme: Your comment made me smile. The campaign signs of the two finalists “litter the roadway” because they are still in the election.

  • Rick August 22, 2015 (7:04 am)

    You get the government you can afford.

  • Silly Goose August 22, 2015 (9:36 am)

    A gentleman till the end, this show of support for the citizens of West Seattle is exactly why I voted for Chas, we are so lucky to have you on our side here on the Pennisula. Thanks Chas for your hard work!!

  • Mike August 23, 2015 (7:20 am)

    No matter what side of the voting fence somebody stands on, what he did was the right thing to do.

  • Ann August 23, 2015 (1:22 pm)

    If any candidate should have been elected strictly from his participation and advocacy on all things West Seattle – long before and during the election. No matter how small the event, forum, meeting, Chas is / was there – often when other candidates were not.

    Chas, this was a great choice. Your solid values and dedication to your community are commendable. Thanks for all you do.

  • SusieQ August 23, 2015 (2:35 pm)

    Chas Redmond: One class act. Thank you for your service! You’ve made me a better person in our volunteer work together, even – perhaps especially – when we haven’t had the same viewpoint. Keep up the good works, and I’ll see you around the ‘hood.

  • tedb310 August 24, 2015 (12:15 pm)

    Thank you, Chas! That was a very nice gesture.

  • Bryan Fiedorczyk August 26, 2015 (9:33 pm)

    Thank you again for your generous donation, Chas. I greatly enjoyed the time we spent together serving on the Sustainable West Seattle board, and it was apparently obvious of your devotion to the WS community and trying to keep it a great place, not just now, but for generations into the future. Sustainable West Seattle (http://sustainablewestseattle.org/) is a volunteer run non-profit and these funds will help us continue the programs we’ve developed and provided the past seven years, such as the West Seattle Tool Library, the Green Life portion of the WS Summer Fest, the Community Orchard of West Seattle, DIY Bikes, Spokespeople, WS Bike Connections, among others. A very classy move; greatly appreciated!

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