Big Backers

Endorsements can be a good barometer of a candidate's political temperament and leverage. So who's boosting Hession and Verner?

DENNIS HESSION
The mayor lists 387 endorsers on his Website, Hessionformayor.com. Prominent among them are attorneys (Murphy, Bantz and Bury; Crary, Clark and Domanico PS; Gordon & amp; Shogan), architects (ALSC, Bernardo-Wills) and those in the construction and development industries -- big names like Walt Worthy, Ron Wells, Black Rock, Tomlinson Black, Lydig Construction, Potlatch (a timber company) and Robert B. Goebel.

Other notable names on the list: Azar's, Runners Soul, Jim Cowles, Steve Eugster, light rail advocate Phyllis Holmes, photographer Don Hamilton, Democratic state senator Chris Marr and the NBA's all-time leader in assists, John Stockton.

MARY VERNER
The city councilwoman lists 293 endorsers on her page, Maryverner.com. The list reads like a roll call of Spokane's left-leaning forces, including the Sierra Club, gay rights group Citizens Advancing Equality, Democratic state representative Don Barlow, Center for Justice attorney Breean Beggs, Out There publisher Jon Snyder, and unions like the municipal employees, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Spokane Firefighters Local 29 and the healthcare branch of the SEIU.

She also receives support from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and former Oregon U.S. Representative Elizabeth Furse, a civil rights activist who runs the Institute for Tribal Government at Portland State University.

Other notables: County Commissioner Bonnie Mager, Jim West foe Shannon Sullivan, Kim Thorburn, and former City Councilman Dean Lynch.