Sen. Maria Cantwell's campaign manager just issued a statement about the hiring of former Cantwell foe Mark Wilson that says Wilson will be paid $8,000 a month through the election as a campaign outreach director.

The campaign has come under criticism for not releasing the figure before it would be made public in Federal Election Commission filings in September.

The statement from campaign manager Matt Butler said:

"This week, Senator Cantwell was pleased and honored to accept the endorsement of Mark Wilson. Mark had been running for the Democratic primary nomination for the past 16 months.

"Mark's experiences as a candidate, military veteran, Teamster, progressive activist and small businessman make him an ideal person for the Cantwell campaign's outreach director.

"As a small businessman, Mark has put his company on hold to work for the final four months of the campaign. He has accepted a full-time staff position as outreach director at $8,000 per month through the election. We are pleased to have Mark on our team.

"Mark has already hit the ground running, and in his first four days on our staff he has attended events from Cowlitz to Kitsap to Whatcom, talked to voters across the state and done numerous media interviews.

"With the Senate in session until early August, and again from September at least until early October, Mark will be invaluable in helping get out the Cantwell campaign's message of Maria putting us first all across the state."

I have to admit I am surprised at how much Wilson is being paid.