No one may directly or indirectly reimburse another person or entity for a contribution to a candidate, political committee or political party. RCW 42.17A.485.
During the 21 days before the general election, no candidate for statewide office may accept aggregate contributions of more than $75,000 from any contributor eligible to give that amount. Similarly, candidates for other offices and political committees may not accept contributions totaling more than $7,500 from any eligible contributor during this three-week period. These limitations do not apply to contributions accepted from the state committee of either a major political party or a minor party.
Contributors may give funds to candidates, political parties or other committees for spending on behalf of one or more other candidates or committees. These types of donations are known as earmarked contributions. Earmarked contributions may not simply be passed along to the benefiting candidate or committee; they must be spent - at least for the most part - for the benefit of the intended recipient.
The following entities may NOT give to legislative or state executive office candidates, to a state official against whom recall charges have been filed or to a political committee expecting to make expenditures supporting the recall of the official:
Sponsor identification requirements for political advertising are determined by who the sponsor is and what kind of ad is running. We will take you through those requirements.
Determining who is the sponsor
The sponsor of a political ad — the committee or other person paying for the ad — usually must be identified. If a person acts as an agent for someone else or is reimbursed for the funds actually used to pay for the ad, the original source of the payment (or the person doing the reimbursing) is the sponsor.
During the 10 days preceding a primary, general, or special election in which a candidate's name is on the ballot or in which a committee participates, the campaign's books of account showing all contributions received, expenditures made and outstanding debts must be opened for public inspection.