King County Democrats filed a complaint yesterday with the state over Susan Hutchison's campaign for King County Executive, which the group claims has made "flagrant attempts to skirt the law" by not reporting expenditures and in-kind contributions. The paramount concern of 81 complaints is the use of a Laurelhurst home, which the candidate is using as a campaign office, without reporting "$10,000-$20,000 fair market rent," the group says.

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission requires campaigns to report all contributions and expenditures, even for services provided in-kind. The full complaint filing is in this .pdf file.

"All that I'm trying to do with this is to show that the woman is not following the rules, and the rules are there for all candidates, all political parties," says Suzie Sheary, chair of the King County Democrats, which has endorsed Republican Hutchison's opponent, Democrat Dow Constantine. The race is technically nonpartisan. But Sheary says Hutchison's party affiliation is "not ... relevant to my complaint."

"The PDC sends us weekly notices on what they want and when they want it, and the Hutchison campaign is not following the rules," says Sheary.

Lori Anderson, a PDC spokeswoman, says, "We treat all complaints seriously and treat them all the same." She says staff are reviewing the complaint, and could decide by the end of the week whether to begin an investigation. "The longest we have ever taken [for an investigation] is two years but it typically takes months," she says.