Seattle and Trump become weapons in state senate campaign

SEATTLE — Supporters of Republican Jinyoung Englund have released an ad that pokes fun at Seattle-- but for Englund it's also a serious attack.

"Hey eastside, it's Seattle, we don't have enough liberal politicians. Do Seattle a solid, send Manka Dhingra to the Senate," the commercial begins.

Republican Jinyoung Englund also used Seattle as a weapon during a recent debate.

"I've never called Seattle a boogeyman because they are a real threat," said Englund. "The policies coming out of Seattle, whether it is heroin injection sites, whether it's the city income tax."

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We watched the ad with Seattle University political science professor Marco Lowe. He doubted it would be effective, because the 45th District is practically next door to Seattle

"So many people went to the University of Washington or worked at Amazon, and are now at Microsoft and will come back. So to try to portray Seattle as a city boogeyman just feels very outdated for how this region is reflected today," he said.

That ad is sponsored by a political committee called Eastside Values out of Issaquah. We checked the record and Eastside Values says it has spent $126,000 opposing Manka Dhingra. 

Where did they get the money? 

They got a donation of $200,000 from the Washington State Republican Party. 

Where did the Washington State Republican Party get the money? 

From a Washington, D.C. group called the Republican State Leadership Committee, which gave the Republican Party $500,000.

"If you are going to ask me that question I think you should ask Ms. Dhingra if she's running against Trump," Englund said at the debate. 

It's true. Democrat Dhingra has used Donald Trump to attack Englund.

One her Dhingra's ads says, "Republican Jinyoung Englund said she really respects Donald Trump as president."

Lowe believes the Trump attack will more likely work for Dhingra, because Hillary Clinton beat Trump overwhelmingly in the 45th District.

Cox Media Group