Tri-Cities gubernatorial candidate is top GOP fundraiser. Can he keep his early lead?

A Tri-Cities gubernatorial candidate is the top fundraising Republican and now he’s looking to kick it into overdrive at a special gala hosted by some of former President Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders.

Misipati “Semi” Bird has raised nearly $100,000 in contributions since he announced his campaign seven months ago standing on the rotunda in the Washington State Capitol building. About $41,800 of that was raised in April and May alone.

While 2024 primary voters won’t narrow the crowded gubernatorial field for another 14 months, Bird is looking to highlight himself as a front runner who can pull in support from disaffected Democratic voters and separate himself from a growing field of candidates who have statewide name recognition.

He’s served the last year and a half on the Richland School Board and could be ousted from elected office — the only he’s ever held — over a February 2022 vote to lift Washington’s indoor COVID mask mandate. Voters will decide during the Aug. 1 primary election.

Still, Bird’s campaign remains optimistic that they can continue to build off this early momentum. Both Yakima and Clark county Republican parties have each given early cycle endorsements to the candidate.

Corey Gibson, Bird’s campaign communications director, said they have received more small-dollar donations than even fellow Republican Raul Garcia, an emergency medicine physician in Eastern Washington who is also running and has raised about $52,000 so far.

He’s second only to Bird among a narrow field of GOP candidates.

“Semi’s message of unity is having a noticeable affect,” Gibson wrote in an email.

But two leading Democrats — Bob Ferguson and Hilary Franz — lead Bird by significant margins when it comes to campaign fundraising.

Ferguson, Washington’s attorney general, has amassed a war chest of more than $2.5 million — at least $1.2 million of which was recently transferred from his attorney general reelection committee.

Franz, Washington’s commissioner of public lands and executive of the Department of Natural Resources, has raised $176,000.

Bird is a Richland behavioral scientist and a decorated retired U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret with 24 years of military service.

He is the founder and current executive director of Team Concepts Training and Consulting, which offers business leadership development and coaching, and previously worked as federal director of training and leadership development at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Bird, who has amassed support from parents rights advocates in the Tri-Cities, characterizes himself as a “constitutional Christian conservative.”

If elected, Bird would be the first Black person ever elected to the seat of Washington governor and would be the first Republican to do so in more than 40 years.

A gala with MAGA

Bird’s campaign announced earlier this month that they would auction off seats at a private gala hosted by failed Washington state congressional candidate Joe Kent and attended by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.

The event in Lake Tapps, Pierce County, is set for July 1.

Bird’s campaign is auctioning off four seats at “Semi’s VIP Table” for a “max campaign donation of $2,400 per person or $3,500 for a couple.”

“We are grateful to Joe Kent, a fellow Special Forces veteran, for offering us a table as a fundraising opportunity,” Gibson wrote.

Kent and Gaetz are among the most vocal supporters of the former president and remain controversial figures in the national conservative movement.

Both downplayed the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, with Kent suggesting the FBI instigated the event. And both also pushed Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Gaetz made national headlines earlier this year as one of the key holdouts in the dramatic U.S. House vote to appoint California Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

The Florida representative was also embroiled in a years-long investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations he was involved in a sex trafficking case with a teen girl, but no charges were ever filed and Gaetz later said the department had dropped the case.

Kent successfully defeated U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary in 2022 over her vote to impeach Trump, but lost later in the general election to Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

He plans to run again in 2024 when the seat is up for reelection.

Kent’s frequent appearances on conservative talk shows and overt promotion of anti-establishment politics has earned him support from white nationalists.

But campaign strategists have said his “platform of inclusive populism rejects racism and bigotry and invites all Americans to support his aggressive America First agenda...”

PDC Complaint

Bird has been crisscrossing Washington state to campaign at holiday events, GOP Lincoln Day dinners and donor meet-and-greets.

Most donations have been from Western Washington residents.

Bird has contributed $2,500 of his own cash to his campaign. And Everett luxury mirror founder Jim Mischel has donated $2,400.

There have been at least 11 $2,000-donations made by individuals in Washington. Two of those were made by retiree Lynette Gay and designer Patrick Bradford, both of Florida.

Also of note, Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger has given Bird about $260 and Richland School Board hopeful Nino Kapitula donated $300.

On Wednesday, Richland resident Joseph Gilmour filed a complaint with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission against Bird alleging the campaign violated state law for not reporting donations from a May 10 fundraising event.

Gibson called the allegations “baseless and unsubstantiated.”

“The Bird for Governor campaign has filed all required donations in strict accordance with PDC guidelines. Complaints like this are to be expected as some on the left seek to weaponize the PDC against conservative candidates, especially candidates who are winning,” he wrote.

The complaint alleges that Bird’s campaign failed to account for $3,000 that was raised at the event in its June 10 report, which detailed expenditures and contributions made during the month of May.

Gilmour also filed a separate complaint against hosts Ladies of Liberty, Tri-Cities, for not being registered with the PDC as a political committee to raise campaign funds.

Bird has said little about the upcoming recall, but has voiced support for Kapitula as his successor and for Gene Nemeth, who is challenging incumbent Jill Oldson.