PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioner candidate Sissi Bruch, a Democrat, has far outdistanced her opponent, Republican Bill Peach, in campaign fundraising as each strives to fill the position of retiring Commissioner Mike Doherty.
Bruch has raised $36,581, bolstered by $5,000 from the county Democratic Central Committee, and has donated $500 to her own campaign. She’s spent $31,904.
Peach has stayed away from actively soliciting donations.
Rather, he has pumped up his own total of $22,075 in campaign donations with $20,000 of his own money — a $10,000 contribution and a $10,000 loan.
Peach has received 30 donations to Bruch’s 201.
Not that he really cares — Peach said he mapped out a budget when he decided to run and is sticking to it, even if it means spending his own money.
He’s been active with radio and newspaper advertising, though last week, he finally received about 60 campaign signs he said were late being delivered.
Peach takes issue with who is donating to Bruch’s campaign.
“There are people who are very into her campaign because they have an environmental view they want to be presented,” he said Friday.
“It’s kind of radical, but that’s their right, and that’s what they are doing.”
Bruch has no problem with her contributors.
“People who live here believe that our environment is actually our economy,” Bruch said Friday.
“I’m talking about timber; I’m talking about fishing; I’m talking about tourism — the whole thing.”
Peach also noted that Bruch has no contributions from the Forks-area West End District 3 that the winner of the race will represent.
Four of Peach’s 30 donations are from the West End, all from Forks.
District 3 includes west Port Angeles, where Bruch lives, though voting that began last week for the Nov. 4 all-mail-ballot general election includes the entire county.
Ballots were mailed Wednesday.
Bruch said she has spent little time campaigning in the West End and acknowledged she did not receive any donations from there.
“That is a fact, but I got a lot of donations from the 3rd District,” she said.
Peach said he concentrated his door-to-door campaign efforts in Port Angeles and Sequim, while Bruch concentrated hers on Port Angeles and spent some time in Sequim.
“We pretty much covered the West End with mailers in the primaries for the sake of name recognition,” Bruch said.
She did targeted mailings, one of which was to women voters to attract support from those who believe it’s important “to be able to have a woman’s point of view heard” on the Board of Commissioners, she said.
“I believe we need to get a new voice in there.”
She also paid for automatic-dial “robo-calls” that featured Port Angeles native and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, whose 6th District includes Clallam County.
But advertising-wise, she spent her campaign funds on newspapers and stayed away from radio.
“We were turned off by Rush Limbaugh,” Bruch explained, referring to the conservative radio host featured on Port Angeles radio station KONP.
She said she would not be able to run for commissioner if not for her campaign donations.
“More than anything else, it just shows the support I have,” Bruch said.
“I certainly couldn’t finance my own campaign,” she added, noting she is putting her two sons through college.
Peach acknowledged that campaign donations can be helpful but asserted that an election cannot be bought.
“People make their decisions based on their values and what they are hearing,” he said.
A complete list of campaign contributions and expenditures is at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Financing.
Bruch donors
Below are contributors from the North Olympic Peninsula who have donated $100 or more to Bruch’s campaign:
■ $6,250: Clallam County Democratic Central Committee.
■ $1,900: Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, Sequim; Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, Port Angeles.
■ $1,000: Ed Chadd, Port Angeles.
■ $950: Olympic Labor Council, Port Angeles.
■ $500: Earl T. Archer, Sequim; Roy Scott, Fred Startup, Port Angeles.
■ $300: Richard Cary, Sequim; Paula Cunningham, Port Angeles; Josey Paul, Joyce.
■ $250: Barbara Maxwell, Michael S. Maxwell, Nina Richards, Donald Richards, Port Angeles; J.C. Preble, Rosalie W. Preble, Sequim.
■ $225: Robert Lynette, Sequim.
■ $200: Glenn A. Harper, Roy J. Scott, Norma Turner, Susan Chadd, Robert Vreeland, Port Angeles.
■ $180: Peter Vanderhoof, Port Angeles.
■ $175: Eloise W. Kailin, Sequim; Alda L. Siebrands, Mary K. Slack, Port Angeles.
■ $150: Nina Richards, Ronald Richards, Jane Vanderhoof, Susan L. Batten-Bauman, Richard G. Bauman, Port Angeles; The Taylor Family Trust, Sequim.
■ $125: S.R. Epstein, Elizabeth Wharton, Cynthia Spawn, Port Angeles.
■ $100 Thomas E. Clarke, Muazzez O. Eren, Anne H. Murray, Vincent D. Murray, Rudy’s Automotive, Anne Shaffer, Kathleen Wesley, Cindy Kelly, Timm Kelly, Janet M. Nickolaus, Port Angeles; Elaine Caldwell, Karen S. Chapa, Roger Fight, Sylvia Hancock, Galeen Hays, Stuart MacRobbie, Alice McElroy, John C. Pollock, Candace Pratt, Darlene Schanfald, Christopher O. Shea, Stephen P. Tharinger, Penny Van Vleet, Barbara E. Vanderwerf, Nancy Woolley, James Irvine, Janet Irvine, Carlyn Syvanen, Stephen F. Vause, Sequim; Connie Gallant, Quilcene.
Peach donors
Below are contributors from the North Olympic Peninsula who have donated $100 or more to Peach’s campaign:
■ $400: James McEntire, Sequim.
■ $250: W.R. Greenwood, Sequim.
■ $150: Republican Women of Clallam County, Port Angeles.
■ $125: Audrey Grafstrom, Donald N. Grafstrom, Port Angeles; C.E. Lunsford, Lois Ann Lunsford, Forks.
■ $100: Clallam County Republican Central Committee, Republican Women of Clallam County, R.A. Pilling, Port Angeles; Anne M. Stiles, Gerald J. Stiles, Sequim; Charles A. Vaughan, Patty L. Vaughan, Forks.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
