Two newly elected District 23 lawmakers have registered as candidates to run in the 2014 election.
State Rep. Drew Hansen and Rep. Sherry Appleton both filed as candidates for the 2014 race on Dec. 13, according to the Public Disclosure Commission, the state agency that serves as a watchdog on campaign financing.
Hansen and Appleton, both Democrats, were elected to the state House in November 2012. Hansen serves in the 23rd District’s Position 2, while Appleton serves in the 23rd District’s Position 1.
The pair registered as candidates shortly after they submitted their post-election reports on money raised during the 2012 race. Those reports were due Dec. 10.
The reports show that Hansen and Appleton finished their most recent campaign with thousands of dollars in donations to spare, and have since transferred those funds into their 2014 campaigns.
Hansen’s campaign made two transfers of surplus donations totaling $15,391 to his 2014 campaign on Nov. 30, according to the candidate’s full report of expenditures for the 2012 race, which was filed with the Public Disclosure Commission in early December.
Appleton’s campaign made three transfers of unused cash from her 2012 campaign to her 2014 re-election bid, totaling approximately $14,115, in late November.
Hansen raised a sizable war chest during his 2012 race for Position 2 against Bainbridge Island Republican James Olsen.
Hansen, who won with more than 60 percent of the vote, reported raising $216,241 in cash and in-kind contributions during the campaign.
He spent $216,241 during the 2012 race — which included the surplus transfers to his 2014 campaign — leaving a cash-on-hand balance of zero in his post-election report to the state.
After Election Day, Hansen’s final expenditures included payroll costs for his treasurer ($1,512) and other campaign salaries, bookkeeping expenses ($300) and a bonus to the Seattle-based political consultant firm of Northwest Passage Consulting ($4,000).
Olsen reported receipts of $14,414 in cash and in-kind contributions during the campaign.
He spent $14,312 during the 2012 race, and reported $101 in cash-on-hand funds on Dec. 10.
Olsen also has existing campaign debts of $2,200. The $2,200 in debt is for loans that Olsen made to his campaign near Election Day.
In her re-election bid, Appleton had donations and in-kind contributions of $84,335.
The incumbent lawmaker beat Republican opponent Tony Stephens with 60 percent of the vote on Election Day.
Her campaign also reported a zero cash-on-hand balance on Dec. 10, and said it had spent $84,335 during the race.
Her final expenditures included payments to her manager ($5,000), treasurer ($2,432), sign coordinator ($500), and Besserman Associates, a public affairs firm in Seattle ($3,000).
Incumbents filing for re-election early is not unusual in Washington state, as lawmakers cannot raise campaign cash during the legislative session.
A total of 28 people — 15 Democrats and 13 Republicans — have already registered as candidates for House and Senate seats in 2014.
