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LYNNWOOD—The Washington Disclosure Commission (PDC) on Thursday, July 2, has found former Lynnwood City Council Vice President Joshua Binda guilty of violating RCW 42.17A.235 and RCW 42.17A.240 for failure to timely and accurately report campaign contributions and campaign expenditures, and WAC 390-16-043 for failing to timely provide inspection of his campaign books in the 2025 Primary Election.

PDC Compliance Officer Alice Fiman presented Case 175907, under sworn testimony, during a brief enforcement hearing. Staff noted that while Binda eventually responded to complaints and filed a final campaign report in June 2026, the report was incomplete. It lacked required details on a texting expenditure — specifically the number of texts sent — and vendor contact information for an alleged expenditure.

Binda was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,000, of which $500 was suspended on the following conditions, all due within 30 days of the written order:

• Provide the number of texts sent by the texting vendor listed in his final report.
• Supply contact information for the vendor referenced in the complaint.
• Pay the remaining $500.
• Commit no further violations of campaign finance laws for the next four years.

Binda did not appear at the hearing but had submitted a written response that was considered by the hearing officer Commissioner J Robert Leach, Chair of the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.

The investigation was triggered by complaints filed by attorney Conner Edwards in the summer of 2025. As first reported by the Lynnwood Times in August 2025, the allegations centered on Binda’s handling of his “Josh Binda For All” re-election campaign during the 2025 election cycle.

Between July 11 and December 11, 2025, Edwards filed a total of seven complaints against Binda. Specific issues raised in the original complaint included:

• Failure to timely respond to a request to inspect the campaign’s books of account during the 10-day window prior to the 2025 August primary election.
• Missing or unreported $2,574.69 in 2021 campaign funds. Binda’s last C4 Report for 2021, indicated a closing cash on hand balance of $2,574.69, yet, on his opening C4 Report for 2025, he indicated a $0 opening cash on hand balance. What happened to the money?
• On June 28, 2025, Joshua Binda hosted a campaign kick-off (Binda’s Ball). There were a number of amenities at this kick-off including food, drinks, a DJ, video games, etc. There is no in-kind contribution/debt/expenditure has been reported for these items.
• There is no expenditure or in-kind contribution listed for his PO Box which is his campaign’s address. No expenditure or in-kind is listed for his campaign website.
• Binda failed to include the sub vendor information and quantity of door cards printed for the $1200 expense paid to Vote Forward.
• C4 Expenditure Report for May 2025 was filed July 7, 2025, approximately 1 month after the reporting deadline.
• Missing 7-Day C4 Report: As of November 5, 2025, Mr. Binda did not file the 7-day C4 report by the required deadline.
• Missing C3 Reports: A review of Mr. Binda’s campaign books of account revealed a deposit for roughly $250 that occurred on 10/29 and a deposit of ~$150 that occurred on 10/22.  As of today (the day after the election) there are no C3 reports that correspond to these deposits.
• Missing loan agreement of $7,706.73 lent to campaign

On October 20, 2025, Binda provided a Google drive link where his Primary Election campaign books were available for review. The request was made prior to the 2025 Primary Election, however not fulfilled until after the primary election.

Binda did make his General Election campaign books available for inspection to Edwards on Sunday, November 2, 2025.

“Mr. Binda was friendly and professional during the meeting and was able to provide almost every single record that I requested to view,” Edwards wrote in his correspondence to the PDC.

Binda responded to the complaints up until about October 20, 2025, Fiman said during Thursday’s hearing. PDC staff attempted to reach Binda regarding the additional allegations and outstanding PDC reports but Binda did not respond to repeated emails and phone calls until June 16, 2026.

In his official statement in a June letter to the PDC regarding the outstanding allegations association with the case in lieu of attendence, Binda wrote: “The delay was not willful. After I left public office, I did not realize that reporting obligations connected to my prior campaign continued even though I was no longer a candidate or officeholder…. Once I learned that additional reports were still required, I filed them as quickly as I could rather than waiting for or contesting this proceeding.”

He shared that “required reports have now been filed,” the delay “stemmed from a genuine misunderstanding,” and that he has “taken the matter seriously and corrected it promptly upon learning of the requirement.”

Binda requested that the Commission impose no monetary penalty, or, “if the Presiding Officer determines a penalty is warranted, that it be assessed at the minimum level available under WAC 390-37-143.”

Because Binda was found in violation of the same statues by the Commission in 2023, they declined his requests and imposed a $1,000 civil penalty.