Political Contributions Hang Over Seattle Gigabit Efforts

Outgoing Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn championed a public-private partnership between the city, the University of Washington, and Gigabit Squared earlier in 2013 that will bring cheaper high-speed Internet service to 12 neighborhoods in 2014. But with incoming mayor -- and current state senator -- Ed Murray’s (D-WA) campaign being financed in part by cable giant Comcast, time will tell if that project retains the support of Seattle’s political leaders.

While State Sen. Murray has publicly countered criticism that he’s Comcast’s puppet, he has otherwise remained silent on broadband issues. Yet the donations to his campaign beg the question whether Comcast’s contributions were an isolated occurrence, or part of a larger strategy to influence local elections when there is support for lower-priced competition in the future?