Alex Pedersen Quickly Achieves
Maximum Fundraising
of $150,000

80% of Democracy Vouchers
for Pedersen from D-4
vs. under 40% for closest competitor.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Alexa Halling, 206-502-9092


SEAT TLE, June 10, 20 19 -

With the strongest support from his own District 4, Alex Pedersen has already raised the maximum funding of $150,000 for both the primary and general elections -- even though the primary is still two months away.

" Fundraising the maximum so quickly enables me to focus even more of my time talking directly with residents and small businesses from Wedgwood to Wallingford to Eastlake," said Pedersen. "I have personally knocked on the doors of over 12,000 voters in District 4 and, with our fundraising goal achieved, I can connect with thousands more before they receive ballots. Thank you to everyone who assigned their vouchers to me so that we can make City Council more accountable to you!"

Total Fundraising: With $150,000 raised, Pedersen is able to spend the full $75,000 allowed during the primary election period (through August 6), and now has the other $75,000 ready to go for the general election period.

While news media outlets have been reporting various fundraising metrics, most reported only vouchers assigned to a candidate, vouchers redeemed by the candidate (a.k.a. "cashed in" or "paid"), or traditional donations plus vouchers redeemed. But if a candidate already has traditional donations, they do not need to redeem as many vouchers.

The full picture for fundraising requires adding together the traditional donations received plus the total vouchers ASSIGNED by voters to that candidate. The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) provides data on "vouchers assigned" on their website, both as a spreadsheet called "Democracy Voucher Data" and as a "Data Dashboard": http://www.seattle.gov/democracyvoucher/program-data

As displayed on the other SEEC website for the past several weeks, Pedersen already had $71,100 (rounded) in "contributions." This included Pedersen's own $18,600 personal contribution to jumpstart his campaign + $27,500 traditional cash + $25,050 in vouchers "redeemed." But over the past several weeks, voters have been submitting to SEEC a steady stream of 3,225 vouchers worth $78,900 for Pedersen. Adding the $71,100 to the $80,625 (vouchers received by the SEEC, but not yet redeemed by Pedersen) surpasses the max of $150,000 . The primary election spending is capped at $75,000; therefore, Pedersen already has the max for the general election, too.

Vouchers: In total, voters assigned 4,227 vouchers for Pedersen. Pedersen has redeemed only 1,002 of his vouchers so far, with another 3,225 collected but not cashed in. What's striking about the vouchers for Pedersen is that over 80% are from D-4 voters.

The SEEC recently made available a " Data Dashboard " showing the geographic source of the vouchers. Consistent with what the Pedersen campaign reported earlier using Public Dislosure Requests, 80% of Pedersen's vouchers are from District 4, whereas the closest competitor (Shaun Scott) has collected fewer than 40% of his vouchers from D-4.
Other candidates are receiving a large percentage of their vouchers from District 3 where Kshama Sawant, the incumbent Socialist Councilmember, has chosen not to participate in the Democracy Voucher program.

 The actual count for the four D-4 candidates receiving the most vouchers thus far can be seen in the table below:
Pedersen offered a suggestion for voters who still have their vouchers: " Because my campaign has successfully received the maximum vouchers needed, I encourage voters to assign their Democracy Vouchers to candidates in other Seattle districts who have the commitment and credibility to deliver accountability. It's important that we elect a team of pragmatic Councilmembers who can work together to rebuild the trust between the people and their City Council so we can solve problems for Seattle ." A list of candidates competing in other districts can be found at the SEEC website by CLICKING HERE .

If another District 4 candidate breaks the spending cap, supporters of Alex Pedersen can then contribute up to $250 per person or $500 per couple, if they have not done so already.
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Alex Pedersen, a progressive results-oriented Democrat, was the first candidate in the entire city to qualify for the city's Democracy Voucher program in this year's Council campaigns and has also been a leading fundraiser as he runs on a platform of accountability, transparency, and results.

Pedersen officially launched his campaign on November 28, 2018 for District 4. Because the incumbent Rob Johnson vacated his seat early, the City Council appointed a temporary caretaker until D-4 voters choose their own 4-year Councilmember in the August primary and November general elections.

District 4 is home to approximately 100,000 residents in 20 neighborhoods including Bryant, Belvedere Terrace, Cowen Park, Eastlake, East Fremont, Hawthorne Hills, Inverness, Laurelhurst, Magnuson Park, Maple Leaf, Ravenna, Ravenna Springs, Roosevelt, Sand Point, the U District, University Park, View Ridge, Wallingford, Wedgwood and Windermere.





  • Link to Alex Pedersen's bio: https://electalexpedersen.org/meet-alex/
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For link to photo, CLICK HERE .
Paid for by Elect Alex Pedersen, P.O. Box 15235, Seattle, WA 98115