Democratic donor says he won't give more to state party

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

	Matthew Bergman
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One of Washington's most generous Democratic donors says the state party won't get any more of his money because it is playing favorites for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In the past four years, Vashon Island attorney Matthew Bergman, his wife and his law firm have given more than $250,000 to the state and national Democratic parties and to Democratic candidates here and around the country. About $40,000 of that went to the state party.

And that'll be it, says Bergman, a supporter of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, "unless and until it stops supporting one good Democrat over another in party primaries."

"Given the inherent uncertainty of the nomination process, it is reckless and irresponsible for our party leadership to imbue the credibility and reputation of the entire State Party on any single candidate," Bergman wrote to Gov. Gary Locke and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Paul Berendt, the state party chairman, and Jeff Smith, a former party official hired to organize the party's Feb. 7 caucus, are open and active supporters of Dean. So is most of the state Democratic Party's leadership.

Bergman officially registered his protest in an e-mail to the state's top elected Democrats on Nov. 26. It came as his R.S.V.P. to the party's holiday fund-raiser scheduled for Sunday night. He won't be at the $250-per-person event at the Seattle Tennis Club.

"By taking sides in this debate, the party leadership have placed the imprimatur of the State Party on one side of this debate and robbed the caucuses of their essential legitimacy," Bergman wrote.

In an interview yesterday, Bergman said he hasn't heard back from party officials.

Berendt and Smith said yesterday that while they support Dean, they have not used their party roles to help the candidate.

Berendt concedes it's a little unusual for a party chairman to be such a visible supporter of a candidate in a crowded primary.

But, he said, "What I try to do is reflect the grass roots of the Democratic Party in the positions I take and the actions I take."

Once he decided to support Dean early this year, Berendt said it "would have been a disservice" not to announce his preference.

Berendt hired Smith, the party's former executive director, to organize the caucuses, which are held in each of the state's precincts. Smith is encouraging local party officials to find sites for the caucuses, as well as explaining the process and how the events should be managed.

"A lot of what you might hear from the other campaigns is pretty much sour grapes," Smith said. "You just have to wonder if what they are trying to do is find some reason why their candidate isn't doing as well in this state as they had hoped."

Most agree Dean is the front-runner to win the most delegates from Washington state.

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, who chairs Kerry's Washington campaign, said that if party leaders want to endorse a candidate, "they have to go above and beyond" to ensure there is no appearance of a conflict.

"Putting a Dean supporter in charge of organizing the caucuses doesn't meet that test," Smith said. "The state Democratic Party has become an adjunct of the Dean campaign."

Smith wrote a letter of complaint to the Rules Committee of the Democratic National Committee. He said the concerns have been "dismissed but not addressed."

Bergman, 41, lives and works on Vashon. His law practice has been dominated in recent years by work representing victims of asbestos poisoning. This is not the first time he has been at odds with party officials in a primary.

Four years ago, he was a state leader in Bill Bradley's presidential campaign. Berendt and party leaders endorsed Al Gore.

While Bergman was unhappy about that, the 2000 campaign rekindled his political passion. In the years since he has become one of the party's top donors in the state.

He; his wife, Rebecca; and his law firm have donated to the campaigns of Adam Smith, as well as Reps. Brian Baird, Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen; Locke, Murray, Cantwell and Democratic senators from around the country. He is now a major donor to Attorney General Christine Gregoire's gubernatorial campaign.

He also made large donations to the party and its campaign committees, including $25,000 this year to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, and $6,000 to the state party.

"I'm not trying to throw my weight around," Bergman said.

In his e-mail, Bergman wrote that if Dean is the Democrats' nominee, he will "wholeheartedly support his candidacy." But he said that pre-primary endorsements are foolish and destructive.

"Why should the state party alienate supporters by taking sides when you've got two good Democrats running against each other?"

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

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