OLYMPIA, WA – Washington state Rep. Shaun Scott was fined $11,000 on Thursday for not disclosing properly how much he raised and spent as he ran for office last year, and using campaign funds to pay for haircuts.

On a 4-0 vote, the state Public Disclosure Commission levied a civil penalty of $10,000 on The Fighting 43rd, Scott’s campaign committee, for a litany of reporting violations. Scott also faces a separate $1,000 fine for violating a ban on the personal use of campaign funds on expenses not directly related to the campaign.

With each fine, commissioners suspended half the sum as long as the remaining half is paid within 90 days, and neither the committee nor the lawmaker commit any new violations in the next four years. Scott, a Democratic Socialist from Seattle, also must reimburse the committee for the haircuts in the next three months.

“I look forward to complying with the ruling handed down today,” Scott said shortly after Thursday’s hearing. “The Public Disclosure Commission does important work to ensure transparency in our elections. People have a right to know who’s funding campaigns for public office.”

Because Scott didn’t dispute the allegations outlined in an 11-page stipulation, Thursday’s hearing focused on the amount of the civil penalty.

The commission’s compliance officer, Tanya Mercier, recommended a $30,000 fine for the committee, citing “a pattern of noncompliance” evidenced by the prolific number of errant reports. She said she did not think the committee acted with intention, but it also did not make a “good faith effort” to follow the law. She recommended a $1,000 fine for the haircut violation.

Scott established the campaign committee, the Fighting 43rd, in March 2024. He raised $147,304 and spent most of it en route to winning a two-year term representing Seattle’s 43rd Legislative District.

Throughout the campaign, he filed late and incomplete reports of money raised and spent.

In the primary, expenditures on printed campaign materials and political advertising were either not reported on time or “were missing required details meant to inform the public about the Committee’s advertising activities,” according to the stipulation. Many of the inaccurate filings did not get corrected until earlier this year.

Scott told the commission his first treasurer was inexperienced and left mid-campaign. A professional firm, Argo Strategies, came on board days before the November 2024 election, he said.

Commission staff also found Scott’s campaign committee wrongly identified the sponsor of two mailers sent out in the general election as “Better Washington” instead of “The Fighting 43rd.”

And Scott’s multiple visits to a Seattle barber shop in the primary violated the state’s prohibition on such use of campaign funds.

Asked about that violation, Scott said candidates are expected to make a lot of appearances and he’s now “a little more educated” on the permissible uses of campaign funds.

Commissioners made clear they felt Scott had really messed up. But they acknowledged the challenges of being a first-time legislative candidate without an experienced treasurer.

Scott argued a $30,000 fine was excessive and pointed out the commission had recently levied lesser fines on the state Republican Party, Let’s Go Washington and Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199NW for reporting lapses that involved larger sums.

Commissioner Jim Oswald said he was “seriously surprised” to see such a large penalty recommended in light of those decisions involving organizations with more resources.

“Frankly, this would be an overreaction. These are serious violations,” he said. But it didn’t appear Scott was purposefully flouting the law, he said.

Commission chair J. Robert Leach had reservations, too, saying what occurred “doesn’t rise to the level of some of what we’ve dealt with in the past.”

“I don’t think we want to make him the headline of the year for the PDC,” Leach said. “I think Mr. Scott made the wrong decisions. I think he understands how he got there. Please comply in the future.”

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