Kent City Council races bring out the campaign contributions

Campaign contributions to Kent City Council races skyrocketed this year after smaller donations during the 2023 election.

Sharn Shoker, in her race against Andy Song, has raised by far the most of any candidate with contributions of $95,024, according to state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) reports filed by Oct. 22. Song has raised $6,517. The two are on the Nov. 4 general election ballot to replace Brenda Fincher, who decided not to seek reelection.

Incumbent Satwinder Kaur has raised $29,897 in her race against challenger Neet Grewal, who has contributions of $26,274.

The highest donations in 2023 races were $18,557 to John Boyd and $7,560 to Kelly Wiggans-Crawford, who Boyd defeated. Incumbent Zandria Michaud raised $6,257 in her reelection victory. Incumbent Marli Larimer raised $1,543 and was reelected.

Shoker’s major contributions include $10,000 of her personal funds.

She has received nearly 30 individual donations of $1,200, a list that includes Amrik Randhawa, CEO of A-1 Pallets; Preeti Sandhu, CEO of Wild Wheat Bakery, Cafe and Restaurant in Kent; and PD Sandhu, restaurant manager at Wild Wheat Bakery.

Other contributions include $500 from Hira Bhullar, a Starbucks engineer who ran unsuccessfully for Kent City Council in 2019 when he challenged incumbent Les Thomas. Bhullar knows about raising campaign funds. He raised $74,448 and spent $74,276, according to the PDC. Thomas won reelection despite not raising or spending more than $5,000.

Other notable contributions to Shoker include $500 from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 3000 union, of Des Moines; 47th District Democrats, $300; Leslie Hamada, former Kent School Board member, $200; Maya Vengadasalam, former Kent School Board member and current King County Council candidate, $100; Suzette Cooke, former Kent mayor who still lives in Kent, $100; John Boyd, current Kent City Council member, $100.

Shoker has spent $68,149. The major expenditures include $12,223 to Capitol Press, of Tumwater, for mailers, printing, mail house, copywriting, vendor management; four more payments to Capitol Press between $5,200 and $6,111 for mailers; $4,634 to India Bistro, of Seattle, for a campaign kickoff event; and $4,193 to India Bistro for catering at a fundraiser at the accesso ShoWare Center.

Song, a current Kent School Board member, largest contribution is $1,000 from Lakeisha Smith, a nonprofit consultant. He has no other contributions higher than $500. Other notable contributions include $500 from Donald Cook, a fellow Kent School Board member and $500 from the Kent Education Association, the union for teachers.

Song has spent $8,849. His largest expenses include $5,000 to Lamar digital billboard and $2,476 to Vistaprint for postage costs, mail permits, purchase of stamps, mailers and flyers.

Kaur vs Grewal

Kaur’s largest contribution, of her $29,897 total, is $1,750 from Washington State Democrats, of Seattle, according to the PDC. She received $1,200 from Amrik Randhawa, of Kent, CEO of A-1 Pallets who also contributed to Shoker. Other $1,200 contributions include the Firefighters Political Action Committee Local 1747 in Kent; the Washington Education Association; and Affordable Housing Council, of Bellevue.

Other notable contributions to Kaur include $500 from UFCW 3000; $400 from 33rd District Democrats; $300 from 47th District Democrats; and $250 from Kent City Councilmember Marli Larimer.

Kaur has spent $3,943, including $1.750 to Washington State Democrats VoteBuilder Access and $1,095 to Winpower Strategies, of SeaTac, for yard signs.

Grewal has raised $26,274. The largest contribution is $1,200 from Tanvir Kaur, of Kent, a Boeing design engineer.

Other notable contributions include $900 from Doug Basler, of Kent, co-owner of Prologue Digital, who ran unsuccessfully for King County Elections director in 2023 and has lost a few times as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Adam Smith in 9th Distrcit Congressional races. Lori Basler, co-owner of Prologue Digital, also contributed $900.

Additional contributions include $300 from Ryan Evans, of Kent, who lost this year in the Kent City Council primary race to replace Fincher; $200 from the 47th Legislative District Republicans; and $200 from Jeanette Burrage, of Kent, a former state legislator, Des Moines City Council member and King County judge.

Grewal has spent $14,271. Her largest expenses include $2,516 to Pinnacle Printing, of Puyallup, for 500 yard signs; $2,000 to Prologue Digital for production of a 30-second commercial; and $1,200 to Prologue for production of an advertisement.

Kent School Board

Laura Williams is the only Kent School Board candidate who has raised any significant amount of money.

Williams, who is running against Jane Smith, has contributions of $10,986, according to the PDC. The Washington Education Association made two donations of $1,200 each, one for the primary and one for the general election. She has three individual donations of $1,000 each.

Other notable contributions include $300 from the 47th District Democrats; $250 from Satwinder Kaur, Kent City Council president; and $250 from Leslie Hamada, former Kent School Board member.

Williams has spent $10,022, including $4,900 to Terra Firma Consulting, of Lake Stevens, for 5,000 mailers; and $1,875 to Overnight Printing, of Seattle, for 200 yard signs.

Smith opted for mini-reporting, which means she had no plans to raise and spend a total over $7,000, according to the PDC. Williams and Smith are running to replace Tim Clark, who didn’t seek reelection.

Carolyn Kendall and Teresa Gregory are facing off in the other school board race. Kendall opted for mini-reporting while Gregory has reported contributions of just $100. Gregory was appointed to her current school board position earlier this year to replace Awale Farah, who resigned.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated and a sentence removed after the state Public Disclosure Commission corrected an error in its reports Oct. 24 about an $1,500 individual contribution to Sharn Shoker. There was no $1,500 contribution by one individual, but contributions of $750 each by Jobhan Randhawa and his wife, Navpreet Randhawa that incorrectly was combined to one $1,500 contribution.