Taylor out to fundraising lead in 15th District

YAKIMA, Wash. -- State Rep. David Taylor, R-Moxee, has raised $4,550 so far in his race to retain his 15th District seat — $4,550 more than either of his two Democratic challengers, according to the Public Disclosure Commission filings.

Neither of the Democrats, John Gotts of White Salmon and Donicio Marichalar of Grandview, has even registered with the PDC yet. Candidates have two weeks to register after they enter the race, which would mean the deadline for Gotts and Marichalar is Friday.

It will be interesting to see whether state party money comes in for any of the candidates. Back in late March, local political insiders were guessing that up to $150,000 would be spent in the race with state party money making up a large part of that.

But now with Gotts, who lost handily when he ran for the state House last year, and the relatively unknown Marichalar as the Democratic candidates it’s possible the state parties will decide their money can be better spent elsewhere.

There are only two other legislative races in Washington this year, in the 9th and 16th districts, and they’re both expected to be hotly contested. The money already being raised in those races — five different candidates vying for those seats have raised at least $23,000, according to the PDC — make our little 15th District race seem rather ho-hum by comparison.

We’ll see if that changes.

- Pat Muir