Larry Phillips is biggest spender in King County executive race

In the race for King County executive, Larry Phillips has raised and spent more money than any other candidate.

Phillips, a Metropolitan King County Council member from Seattle, has collected $426,000 in campaign contributions and had $318,000 in expenses and debts through Monday, according to campaign reports filed Tuesday by the candidates.

The reports provide the most recent look at where candidates are spending their money — or not spending it — as they near the Aug. 18 primary. On Wednesday, the county mailed all the ballots — almost 1.1 million — for the primary.

After correcting her report to state watchdogs on Wednesday, Susan Hutchison still has more cash on hand than her competitors. Ross Hunter has spent more on advertising for the primary than his rivals. Fred Jarrett reported the smallest cash balance of the major candidates.

Phillips has committed $92,000 to television advertising, with more than half of that going to produce an ad. The remaining $37,000 is for buying air time on cable TV. He has a campaign balance of $109,000.

The bulk of Phillips' spending, like that of his rivals, has gone to the campaign basics: fundraising, consultants, staff, phones and voter lists.

Dow Constantine, another County Council member from Seattle, ranked second in contributions with $330,000. He was third in spending, with $210,000 in expenses and debt, including $33,000 for buying TV time. He is spending an additional $12,000 to produce a TV ad, according to spokesman Sandeep Kaushik.

Hunter, a state representative from Medina, has collected $260,000 in contributions — which ranks fourth in the field. He reported $240,000 in expenses and debt.

Hunter is betting heavily on TV, spending $90,000 on producing and buying air time. He's committed an additional $79,000 to printing and postage for campaign mail.

Former KIRO-TV news anchor Hutchison is third in fundraising with $282,000. Hutchison reported the most cash on hand, $197,000.

But Hutchison is correcting her report, said campaign manager Jordan McCarren, because the campaign misunderstood the rules. Constantine may have a similar problem.

State campaign rules require candidates to disclose expenditures when they are ordered, not actually paid for.

That means Hutchison should have reported about $30,000 in expenses for campaign mail when it was ordered although not yet paid for, McCarren said.

"We've called the PDC [state Public Disclosure Commission] and let them know we accidentally left off the mail expense," McCarren said, adding that the campaign would file an amended report Wednesday. That correction would leave Hutchison with a cash balance of about $167,000.

Hutchison does not plan to do TV ads for the primary, McCarren said.

Kaushik said the Constantine campaign may have erred in not reporting $12,000 for TV-ad production because the bill has not yet been paid. The campaign will amend its report if needed.

Jarrett, a state senator from Mercer Island, has spent nearly as much as he has raised. With just over $97,000 in expenses and debt, his campaign has a balance of $920.Jarrett's biggest expense was $34,000 on campaign mail.

Three other candidates are on the ballot: Alan Lobdell, Stan Lippman and Goodspaceguy. Lippman and Goodspaceguy have not reported any campaign contributions. Lobdell has collected $3,454.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com