With general election ballots going out next week, and television ads showing up for legislative candidates during the Seahawks’ Monday Night Football game, it’s worth asking how much would Democrat State Senate candidate Matt Isenhower owe California billionaire Tom Steyer, if elected?
Answer: Plenty – starting with support for Jay Inslee’s massive gas tax scheme.
It’s no secret that out-of-state rich guy Steyer has decided to play politics in Washington State again this year, already pumping in $1 million into Washington State in hopes of handing control of the State Senate to Democrats. Specifically, Steyer—through his Super PAC NextGen and our state’s liberal attack network—is targeting incumbent GOP State Senators Andy Hill and Steve O’Ban. Of course, that means those senators’ Democrat opponents—Matt Isenhower and Tami Green, respectively— will be receiving several hundred thousand dollars worth of financial assistance from Steyer.
Isenhower, a first-time candidate with an extremely thin resume (although he did oversee some Burger King outlets for an investment group in Florida a few years back), has been quick to downplay Steyer’s involvement in his race against Sen. Andy Hill. He told Politico last week, “I have never met Tom Steyer.”
Aww…the old duck and cover and claim ignorance maneuver. An understandable use of the tactic considering the fact that Isenhower can’t actually admit that he knows how Steyer might spend money on an “independent expenditure” in his race, even though Steyer has talked openly about laundering the money through the Washington Conservation Voters (WCV) here, like he did last year, and the WCV has endorsed Isenhower already.
Steyer has a tradition of not trying to make it easy to follow his money tracks, but here’s what Shift’s review of the financial records show. Following through on his promise to influence Washington State elections, Steyer donated $1 million to his Super PAC, NextGen on September 15. As SHIFT recently reported, working in partnership with NextGen, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) backed Steyer’s donation with contributions of its own. Last month, LCV donated a total of $385,000 to its Washington State arm, Washington Conservation Voters (WCV)—the first installment going out on… September 15. Both NextGen and WCV have one goal in mind: to buy Democrat control of Washington State Senate and thereby eliminate any obstacles to Jay Inslee’s extreme environmental agenda.
If elected, Isenhower—having accepted “huge sums of money” from these special interest groups—will merely become a tool to that end. Can you say $1 more per gallon of gas, courtesy of Mr. Isenhower?
Thanks. I’ve been searching to find out what “business turn-around” experience this Harvard MBA has and am finding nothing. While I appreciate his military service, I believe more information is needed as to his qualifications.