New Dark Money Group Dropped $30,000 Into Seattle City Council Race In Total Anonymity

Seattle Forward (SeaFor), former Council President Sara Nelson’s new dark money pseudo PAC, just dropped $30,000 into the District 5 City Council race to support the conservative lane candidate, Julie Kang. And I don’t say “dark money” lightly. SeaFor was explicitly designed as a back channel to avoid pesky campaign finance transparency laws, blatantly promising to conceal the identity of its conservative donors. If you think that sounds like it’s against the rules, you’re not alone. A PAC that actually discloses its donors, Progressive People Power PAC (P3), just filed complaints with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) and the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), requesting the entities investigate SeaFor and compel the PAC to properly file and report their donors.

Stephen Paolini, the consultant behind P3, told The Burner that anyone who thinks they can anonymously side step transparency laws should think again. P3 is determined to daylight the donors. 

This March, sore loser Nelson launched SeaFor, “civic infrastructure” plainly advertising itself as a way to financially support conservative causes and candidates without sacrificing anonymity. The logic goes, a shy donor gives their money to SeaFor, SeaFor pools it together with other scaredy cats’ checks, donates a lump sum to an “affiliated” PAC to back a conservative candidate, and then the nosey public won’t shame the donor for supporting something rotten. SeaFor’s 501(c)(4) status means they don’t have to disclose their donors. 

The alternative would mean directly donating to a PAC and then your full name shows up on campaign finance filings. And no one wants to damage their personal or professional reputation being outed by a reporter dicking around on the PDC. 

SeaFor made its first donation this Tuesday. According to a filing with the SEEC, SeaFor donated $30,000 to a PAC called North Seattle Neighbors, which is supporting Kang in the D5 race against Nilu Jenks. That same day, the PAC received its only other donation, $5,000 from Collin Hathaway, the chairman of Flint Group and Guardian Roofing. But aside from Hathaway, the public has no idea who is funding North Seattle Neighbors thanks to SeaFor’s 501(c)(4) status. In 2023, when a bunch of “neighbors” branded PACs sprung up, reporters were at least able to show that the “neighbors” funding the PACs are not exactly the types the average Seattleite shares a cul de sac with— corporate landlords, notorious Trumpers, the usual conservative suspects. 

And the brains behind this operation won’t stop at the D5 race. SeaFor’s website describes this as the implementation phase of a project that they hope could one day anonymously buy the entire City Council without any grief from the public. 

But progressives are pushing back. On Wednesday, P3, a PAC that will likely campaign for Jenks, filed a formal complaint with SEEC and the PDC against SeaFor. P3 argues that SeaFor is “quite brazenly” operating as an unregistered political committee by soliciting money for the express purpose of supporting candidates. P3 asked the entities “quickly investigate this complaint and require SeaFor to disclose contributions received and expenditures made to date.”

SeaFor did not respond to The Burner’s request for comment, so as much as I would love to play devil’s advocate (or in this case, Nelson’s advocate) it is unclear what their defense to P3’s specific claims will be. However, SeaFor addressed the question of whether or not it is a campaign committee on its website: “No. SeaFor is the 501(c)(4) civic infrastructure entity. Electoral activity runs through a separate PAC / IE structure with a clean firewall. The c4 builds the operating system. The PAC, when it operates, plays in its own clearly-marked lane.”

Who the SEEC and the PDC will side with is yet to be determined. The PDC did not respond to The Burner's request for comment, but SEEC Executive Director Wayne Barnett confirmed my suspicion that it is "too early" to say anything.