8th-District hopeful chided for loan to self

Dave Ross' campaign for the 8th Congressional District chided primary foe Alex Alben for contributing large sums of his own money to his fund-raising.

The two Democratic campaigns this week revealed their totals for the last quarter, and the disclosures provide the first glimpse into Ross' campaign fund-raising since the KIRO radio talk-show host entered the race in May.

U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn, a Republican, plans to retire at the end of her term.

Alben, a former RealNetworks executive, raised about $272,000 in the last quarter and has raised about $732,000 overall. The campaign has spent about $215,000, a spokesman said.

Alben's total includes $300,000 he loaned to his own campaign, including $100,000 in the last quarter, according to his campaign.

Ross has raised about $74,000 since May 28 and has spent about $14,000, a spokesman said.

Ross' campaign manager, Marco Lowe, criticized Alben for his personal loans.

"Dave Ross' largest contributors are the men and women of the Boeing Aerospace Machinists," Lowe said, noting that the labor organization contributed $5,000 last month. "Alex Alben's largest contributor is Alex Alben."

Ben Vaught, Alben's campaign manager, said Alben has gone "toe-to-toe" with his primary opponent since Ross entered the race.

"Alex has more than 850 individual donors," Vaught said. "And Alex believes so strongly that we need a representative that is pro-choice, will get us out of Iraq and bring jobs here, that he's willing to contribute personally to make that happen."

Jay Freni, deputy campaign manager for Heidi Behrens-Benedict, said his Democratic candidate, a Bellevue interior designer, will release her fund-raising totals July 15.

"We're raising enough to win the race," Freni added.

Matthew Rodriguez: 206-464-3192 or mrodriguez@seattletimes.com