For Immediate Release: July 22, 2015
Contact: Keiko Budech, keiko@sightline.org, 206-447-1880 x114
SEATTLE // Just 1.5 percent of adults in Seattle gave money to 2013 candidates. Fully half of total donation dollars came from 1,683 contributors, or 0.3 percent of the city’s adults; and more than a quarter came from only 0.07 percent of adults—the 391 contributors who gave $1,000 or more.
That’s according to a new report from Sightline Institute analyzing all political donations from Seattle’s 2013 election cycle. The report maps these donations across the city, with comparative overlays of household income and percentage non-Hispanic white, as well as homes designated “waterfront” or “view lots” by the City.
“The disparity in political giving between poorer neighborhoods home to more people of color and wealthy, white neighborhoods is stark,” says the report’s author, Sightline executive director Alan Durning. “And the opportunity that an initiative like Honest Elections Seattle presents is exceptional. At a time of unprecedented change and growth for our city, this is the moment to advance all residents’ say in the future of our community.”
Find the full report on Sightline Institute’s website at sightline.org/HonestSeattle or read more about it here or in this Seattle Times article.
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Sightline Institute is an independent think tank providing leading original analysis of energy, economic, and environmental policy in the Pacific Northwest.
