Late Whatcom Sen. Ericksen has campaign money left. What happens to it?
When he died in December 2021 after five-week battle with COVID-19, state Sen. Doug Ericksen had about $50,000 in campaign funds available if he’d planned to run for re-election in November.
That money could soon go to a charity, to a political party, or be spent in one of a handful of legally prescribed ways, according to Bruce Ayers, Ericksen’s longtime friend who served as the campaign’s administrative treasurer.
“That decision hasn’t been made yet,” Ayers told The Bellingham Herald.
Leftover campaign funds can’t go to a specific candidate, but they could go to the Whatcom County Republican Party, or possibly to the Doug Ericksen Community Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit being formed by his heirs, Ayers said.
“I’m reasonably confident, as much as possible, that those funds would stay local,” Ayers said.
But what will happen to donations collected by the late Ferndale Republican might have to wait until the Aug. 2 primary election, according to state officials.
“It’s only after the primary that those funds become surplus,” said Kim Bradford, deputy director of the state Public Disclosure Commission.
At the PDC website, the public can follow the money that fuels election campaigns and voter initiatives, learn about political action committees and lobbyists, and file complaints about suspected campaign violations.
After the primary, funds not used by a candidate can be declared surplus, and state law sets strict limits on how the money can be distributed or spent, Bradford told The Herald.
Surplus funds can be used to pay office expenses, held for use in a future election, returned to contributors, transferred to a party caucus, donated to an approved nonprofit charity or given to the state’s general fund, she said.
As of the reporting period ending Jan. 3, Ericksen’s PDC account had $30,700 cash on hand and $19,000 in surplus funds, Bradford said.
Ericksen hadn’t made a public statement about his intent to seek re-election to the state Senate representing the 42nd Legislative District, which includes Bellingham’s northern neighborhoods and the rest of Whatcom County.
He served in the state House from 1998 to 2010, and in the state Senate from 2010 until his death in 2021.
Four people have signaled their intent to run for the seat in the August primary: Ben Elenbaas, a Republican and a member of the Whatcom County Council; Russ Dzialo, former Whatcom County Republican Party treasurer who will run as a member of the Forward Party; state Sen. Simon Sefzik, who was appointed by the County Council in January to finish Ericksen’s term; and state Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham.
