Washington high court race turns into costly proxy fight after finance cap lifted

Sean O'Donnell, a King County Superior Court judge, declared victory Thursday in Washington's closest and most expensive state Supreme Court race of the year, after leading Court of Appeals Judge Ian Birk by roughly 39,000 votes, or about 1.4%, with fewer than 100,000 ballots left to count statewide, according to a report carried on KUOW. The seat, Position 4, opened because Justice Charles Johnson, who had served since 1991, could not seek re-election: Washington's Constitution requires Supreme Court and superior court judges to retire at the end of the calendar year in which they turn 75.

An unusually partisan, unusually expensive judicial race

Washington's nine Supreme Court seats are formally nonpartisan, but this year's contest became what both campaigns and outside observers called a proxy fight between the parties. Birk drew backing from the state Democratic Party and allied labor and abortion-rights groups, while O'Donnell, a former senior deputy prosecutor who helped convict Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, drew support from Republican-aligned donors alongside Democratic officials who crossed party lines for him. The two candidates' campaigns raised a combined $1.25 million — $643,000 for Birk and $614,000 for O'Donnell — more than any other judicial race on the ballot, and outside groups poured in more than $1.3 million on top of that. O'Donnell told KOMO News the contest had become a "watershed moment" for judicial elections, warning it now resembled "a race for Congress" in a way that could erode public trust in the courts.

"It now resembles a race for Congress" — Sean O'Donnell, on this year's Washington Supreme Court campaign, in comments to KOMO News

A contribution cap, suspended mid-election

The late surge in outside spending followed a decision by Washington's Public Disclosure Commission, the state's campaign-finance regulator, to stop enforcing a law that caps large contributions in the final three weeks before a general election. Under state law, reportable contributions above set thresholds are barred within 21 days of a general election. Commissioners voted to stop enforcing that cap roughly 11 days before the Nov. 3 vote, citing concerns the law could not survive a legal challenge; the statute itself remains on the books, but the commission simply will not enforce it. Shortly after, the Service Employees International Union Local 775 gave $250,000 to Beware the Attack on Our Courts, a PAC that spent to boost Birk and attack O'Donnell — money that would likely have exceeded the old cap.

Why it matters beyond one seat

The outcome lands on a court facing heavy, simultaneous turnover — five of its nine seats were on this year's ballot, an unusual event members of the state's legal community described as a "generational shift" — and one already facing a major case: a legal challenge to Washington's new income tax on high earners, approved by voters this year, is headed to the justices O'Donnell and his new colleagues will join. The four other Democratic-aligned candidates in this year's court races won by double-digit margins, meaning O'Donnell's race was the only one that came down to the wire. King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, who backed O'Donnell despite the Democratic Party's support for Birk, accused outside groups of trying to "buy a seat on the Supreme Court." Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, which endorsed Birk, said through spokesperson Courtney Normand that it was concerned about a "quiet effort" to shift the court's direction and that O'Donnell had declined to complete its candidate questionnaire.

What happens next

Washington's Secretary of State has until Dec. 3 to certify the statewide results, and county auditors will keep processing ballots under the state's all-mail system in the meantime, though O'Donnell's lead is large enough that his campaign and local reporters now treat the race as decided. Birk did not respond to requests for comment on the outcome. The unresolved question is broader than this one seat: the 21-day contribution cap remains state law even though regulators have declined to enforce it, leaving open whether the Legislature will rewrite the statute, whether a court will eventually rule on its constitutionality, or whether future judicial and legislative races will be fought under the same loosened rules next cycle.