Corporate Values
Dear Group,
The political arm of the Northwest Credit Union Association, which represents more than 180 credit unions in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, gave $1,000 to Shea’s campaign before the August primary but recently asked the campaign to return the money 'His beliefs do not reflect the views and values of the NWCUA, our member credit unions, or the consumers who are credit union members, [Spokesman, Update November 2]
The Washington Association of Realtors, which donated $2,000 to Shea’s campaign, followed suit on Thursday, saying the group wanted a refund and that its name should be removed from Shea’s campaign materials. [Chad Sokol Spokesman, Updated November 2]
Later Thursday, Leland Kim, a spokesman for AT&T, said in an email: “We have reviewed the news reports and the document, and have concluded that Rep. Shea’s statements are divisive and do not reflect our core values of inclusion and equality. We will not be making any future contributions to Rep. Shea’s campaign and will ask that he return the $1,000 we contributed to his campaign earlier this year."
[Chad Sokol Spokesman,Updated November 2]
Avista Corp. [$2000] and the BNSF Railway Co. [$2000] on Friday joined the list of organizations requesting refunds from state Rep. Matt Shea’s re-election campaign. [Chad Sokol, Spokesman, November 2]
Adding those five together comes to $7000. Sounds like a lot, a big rebellion, right? Yes and no. The companies responding to Chad Sokol's inquiries have some local eastern Washington presence, and were understandably sensitive to local and national embarrassing coverage of Shea's "Biblical Basis for War" manifesto. But check out the Washington Public Disclosure Commission website page on Matt Shea's 2018 campaign contributions. The top 45 contributors are mostly businesses, most of them not based in eastern Washington. Business contributions to Shea's campaign are $39,700 of the nearly $110,000 war chest. ($40,450 of the rest of it comes from Political Action Committees.)
Here's the dilemma: Shea has a degree in law from Gonzaga. He is well-spoken and able to hide or gloss over his nuttier views while he's in Olympia. He consistently votes with corporate interests, interests happy to have his vote and willing to support his re-election campaign. A corporation has no basic interest in a legislator's stand on social issues, his morals, or his values...as long as none of that becomes a glaring negative in the eyes of corporate customers and, thereby, a threat to profit.
For years Shea engaged in antics well documented in the Spokesman that should have sunk his political career while he stirred up nary a peep of complaint from the corporations that fill his campaign coffers. The only thing different this time is the national coverage of his "Biblical Basis for War" manifesto and his lame defense. At least briefly, he has become an embarrassment.
Watch this space. By early next year the Public Disclosure Commission should report whether any of the requested $7000 in refunds actually occur. Furthermore, if we pay attention we should be able to find out if any of these organizations send money to Shea for the next election. The only way to make a dent in corporate contributions to candidates like Shea is to keep the spotlight on their antics that even corporations might find embarrassing.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry