Corporate Donors Back Sara Nelson — Dionne Foster Bets On The People

Dionne Foster made a few things very clear at her kick-off party Sunday afternoon. For one, she’s the candidate for working people in the position 9 Seattle City Council race. And two, she needs your money. Turns out, spending the last three and a half years — however feebly — waging war on the poor at the behest of landlords, bosses, and the ultra wealthy, has left her opponent, Council President Sara Nelson, with a very compelling case for deep-pocketed donors. 

“I’m asking you to join me in maxing out with a $350 donation,” Estevan Muñoz-Howard said during his fundraising speech at Foster’s Sunday event. “And if you can’t do $350, please consider $349.” 

While attendees had a good laugh at that line, it's hardly a joke. Just like she did in her first campaign, Nelson opted out of the Democracy Voucher program (DVP), Seattle’s public campaign financing tool that hands every resident a small pot of money to support candidates, giving her a bit of a headstart. Foster supporters argued throughout the kick-off that Nelson’s decision to opt out of the voucher program reveals her game plan: while Foster’s victory path relies on engaging everyday people and expanding democratic participation, Nelson’s camp is banking on simply buying the seat. Nelson did not respond to my request for comment. 

DVP candidates such as Foster (and most candidates in the municipal elections) get to solicit publicly financed donations from people who may not otherwise contribute, but the program comes with some additional rules. DVP candidates in at-large council races, such as Foster, can only accept individual donations up to $350. Non-participants, such as Nelson, can accept individual donations up to $650. Foster can only spend $450,000 during her race and only $225,000 before the primary. Nelson can raise as much as she wants. However, Foster can appeal to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission to be released from these limitations as soon as her opponent officially files given how much she’s raised. 

As of May 4, Nelson’s already raised $277,000, surpassing Foster’s cap for the entire primary by more than $50,000 with months left to strengthen her fundraising lead. According to the PDC as of May 5, Nelson scored max out, $650 donations from 236 people, including Amazon lobbyist Guy Palumbo, former Mayor Jenny Durkan, Uncle Ike’s Ian Eisenberg, and Bellevue Chamber of Commerce CEO Joe Fain. 

Foster’s raised a little less than $60,000 or about a fifth of Nelson’s got in the bank. She’s also raised about $75,000 in Democracy Vouchers, according to her consultant. 

If Foster won’t win by outfundraising, she’ll need to drum up excitement, something that, at least based on murmurs from the chattering class, appeared missing in the first few weeks of her campaign. While it's unclear how much she’s sharpened her initially blurry platform, Foster registered as a lot stronger rhetorically at her kick-off than at previous public appearances. 

In her remarks, Foster staked out her lane as the candidate for working people very clearly. She delved into her childhood in which she worked two jobs to help her single mother make ends meet. She painted herself as the product of social services — she had a baby while using Apple Health insurance and relied on the Seattle Down Payment Assistance Program to buy her home. She highlighted her role in progressive wins, mostly notably passing the statewide capital gains tax. 

“We have real challenges in our city, and we’ve got a council president who is too focused on a narrow political agenda to deliver for working people,” Foster said. 

Foster seems to have studied at the Alexis Mercedes Rinck School of Populism For Policy Wonks. Her remarks rang very similar to Rinck's old stump speech from her 2024 race, which comes as no surprise considering they share a consultant and occupy a similar political lane. And Foster is wise to reheat Rinck’s nachos. Rinck just celebrated a huge win against the council’s personality hire, Tanya Woo, beating her 58% to 41%. 

Foster’s also right to emphasize Nelson’s war chest of wealthy contributors. Seattle voters tend not to respond well to obvious corporate interference — the payroll tax for social housing earned 63% of the vote after Amazon and Microsoft spent hundreds of thousands of dollars against it in the final days of the February special election. 

So yes, Nelson has the money behind her. But if Foster can ride the same waves that brought Rinck and the payroll tax to a victory, she won’t need to go dollar for dollar with Nelson. She’ll just have to make the voters believe this election is worth showing up for.