PDC affirms hearing officer on Dobbs mailer, finding it political advertising

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission on July 23 affirmed the hearing officer’s finding that a publication distributed by Glenn Dobbs met the statutory definition of political advertising and therefore triggered reporting obligations.

Staff told the commission the Wenatchee Record was distributed just before an election, contained statements opposing the levy and thus qualified as political advertising even if it did not explicitly say "vote no." As staff put it during argument, "the evidence supports the presiding officer's finding that the Wenatchee record constitutes political advertising," and that Mr. Dobbs’ independent expenditure of approximately $5,000 should have been reported within five days.

Dobbs’ counsel, Connor Edwards, argued the mailer criticized a school district’s operations and was not intended to persuade voters on the levy: "The purpose of the mailer was to criticize the operation of the school district," Edwards said, asserting that a small factual reference to the levy should not convert general criticism into regulated political advertising.

After hearing argument from both sides, commissioners moved to adopt the hearing officer’s decision as the commission’s decision. The commission recorded the adoption as the final order and indicated that the written order would be issued to the parties.

The decision reaffirms the commission’s application of the political‑advertising standard to time‑sensitive distributed publications and clarifies that content and timing together can satisfy the statute even when explicit “vote” language is absent.