Wow.While I don’t want to take anything for granted, it already looks like the H8 campaign in WA is FAIL. If they can’t get organizing now, how do they expect to win in November?

They never planned to winThis was a fundraising effort, start to finish. Anyone who read the state’s Initiative and Referenda Manual would know that the full text must be printed on each and every petition. The bill ran to over a hundred pages. The cost alone of printing enough petitions — not to mention getting signature gatherers, coordinating volunteers, etc — was going to be prohibitive from the start.
They never intended to follow through, only to milk what few drops they could from their cash cow. And “few drops” seems to be all they got.

Lurleen, is it possible that they have been seriously underreporting their donations?As I recall, when the campaign on a ballot measure comes to an end, by law the campaign must make an effort to return any remaining money to the original donor. Any funds that cannot be returned must, by law, be handed over to the state.
Suppose the theory that this all was just a fundraiser is true. Suppose they received quite a bit of money, but have been diverting it most of it to other uses and officially recording only a fraction of those donations.
Problem is, charges like that would be difficult to catch. Unless someone could audit the books of the campaign and the private groups side by side.

Is Randall carrying a weapon in his coat pocket…in the picture accompanying this story?
It looks like a club or a flashlight that can be used as a club. The picture was taken during daylight, so why would he be carrying a flashlight?
If it is a weapon, does he usually openly carry it? Is there any history of Gary Randall using a weapon against someone?

campaign booksAccording to the C1PC (registration) form every PAC needs to fill out for the state, the campaign books are available for scrutiny 8 days before the selection.  Not sure whether they’re by law available before that or not.  Here is where the F & F PAC books are kept, and here is where the Protect Marriage Washington books are kept.  The big question is of course whether they have to let anyone look at the books even if the referendum doesn’t make it on the ballot.  That is a good question, TechBear, and one I’ll try to follow up on.

or one of those miniature folding umbrellas?

probably an umbrellait was rainy that day, so that was probably a collapsible umbrella.  no permit required.

Maybe an umbrella,but the way it is pulling his coat pocket down, it looks like there is some weight to it.
I remember seeing old film clips of Hitler’s Brown Shirts openly carrying and using clubs rather indiscriminately.

Let’s put that $5K of Gary’s in perspectiveThe only initiative or referendum with real fundraising potential this year seems to be Tim Eyman’s I-1033.  That campaign has so far raised $623,000.  In contrast, Gary has only managed to raise $5K.
Back in 2006, Tim Eyman, Gary Randall and Joe Fuiten combined (purportedly) formidable forces to promote I-65, the initiative to repeal the LGBT non-discrimination law.  They raised a respectable $91,459 for that campaign, yet that initiative FAILED.

I know about the campaign booksBut if they have been diverting money, it never would have shown up on the campaign books at all. What is needed is to compare both the campaign books and the books of the private organizations, and look for donations from the same person that came in on the same day, with the same check number. Or track down the record of donations made to the organization and verify that the checks were, in fact, made out to the organization and not the campaign.
Or….
I would be interested in finding out if the state’s open records law allows an interested party to audit the campaign’s bank accounts, so as to verify that what is being reported is, in fact, what is happening at the bank. I would think that the bank statements themselves would be part of the open record; if so, it should be pretty easy to compare the C3 and C4 documents to the statements and make sure everything tallies. I’ve run several campaigns but never had anyone who wanted to inspect my records, so I have no idea as to the possible scope. That might be an easier way to go. If you do decide to check the records, contact me, I’d gladly go with you (insert very evil grin here.)

my guess isthat the diversion happened earlier on, when Randall was talking up the referendum but asking people to give to his organization, not the referendum PAC.
As for what is available to scrutinize from the PDC, here is what I’ve been told by a PDC person.

—–Original Message—–
I have a a few general questions regarding the public right to scrutinize campaign books.  I notice that on the C1PC form it says that campaign books must be available for public viewing 8 days before the election.
1.  Is this true even if the candidate doesn’t clear the primary or withdraws, or if the initiative or referendum doesn’t garner enough signatures to get on the ballot?
2.  If no location was provided on the C1PC, how can someone access the books?  For example, Friends of John Koster does not list a location where the books can be examined (http://www.pdc.wa.gov/rptimg/default.aspx?docid=1303195).
—–PDC Response—–
This requirement for “public inspection” is for candidates and committees involved in the election.  It only applies for an election that the candidate’s name will appear on or the ballot measure will appear on.  For example, a candidate who will be in the 2010 election does not have to have records available for the 2009 inspection period.
The time period for the inspection is different for the primary and the general.  If a candidate or committee has not yet indicated the appropriate information in section 9 or 10 they should amend the registration before the time to inspect arrives to include it.
Filer Assistance Specialist [name removed]