Oregon Public Broadcasting

More money has been poured into a grocery-bag referendum than any other race on Tuesday's ballot in Seattle.

Opponents of the proposed 20-cent fee on disposable grocery bags have outspent their foes more than 15 to one, and have poured a million and a half dollars into its defeat.

Seattle officials say it's the most spent on an election in recent memory.

John Ryan reports from station KUOW.

Almost all the money to oppose the fee on disposable bags has come from one source. That's the American Chemistry Council, based in Arlington, Virginia.

The group that lobbies on behalf of the plastic and chemical industries has donated close to $1.4 million to stop the grocery-bag measure.

Wayne Barnett is head of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. He says the one and a half million amassed by the No on 1 campaign dwarfs any previous amount spent in Seattle in more than a decade.

Wayne Barnett: "Our records really only go back to 1995, and in that time period, I don't believe we've seen anything come close to that."

Supporters of the measure to charge 20 cents for disposable shopping bags call themselves the Seattle Green Bag Campaign. They've raised less than a hundred thousand dollars. But they do have 50 times as many donors as the "No" campaign.

Only four organizations and two individuals have given to the No on 1 campaign.

Most of the environmental side's 300-plus donors are individual Seattle residents. The environmental group People for Puget Sound is the biggest donor with a $9000 contribution.

Spending in the grocery-bag fight leaves all other Seattle races in the dust. The next biggest war chest belongs to Mayor Greg Nickels. His campaign has raised nearly $600,000.