Bill Gates Targets Supreme Court Justice With Donations

SEATTLE (AP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other donors have given hundreds of thousands of dollars for a late ad campaign to defeat state Supreme Court Justice Charlie Wiggins.

The Seattle Times reports a political-action committee called Citizens for Working Courts raised $550,000 in donations in recent weeks to support Wiggins' challenger, Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Dave Larson.

Gates gave $200,000 to the PAC. An additional $300,000 came from Vulcan, the company that manages the interests of Paul Allen, fellow billionaire and Microsoft co-founder.

The Gates-funded PAC will air positive TV ads about Larson, said Michael Davis, president of Enterprise Washington, a pro-business group coordinating the effort. Davis pointed to a 2016 judicial scorecard by the Association of Washington Business that was critical of the court's rulings on business and regulatory issues.

Wiggins said the large donations were "an attack on the credibility of the court."