Brian Heywood could become the man who financed WA’s first statewide vote backing an income tax in nearly a hundred years

The right wing mega millionaire is betting that Washington voters will nix the state's recently levied million dollar earners tax, given an opportunity to repeal it with Initiative to the People 645 (IP26-645). Heywood speaks as though he simply can't lose. But he made a similar bet in the 2024 cycle that backfired spectacularly, with his money helping prove that progressive ideas like the capital gains tax funding the Education Legacy Trust, the Climate Commitment Act, and the WA Cares Fund were actually popular with voters.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/06/brian-heywood-could-become-the-man-who-financed-was-first-statewide-vote-backing-an-income-tax-in-nearly-a-hundred-years.html

#PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

Brian Heywood’s IL26-638 (subjecting young female athletes to invasive genital exams) gets certified

The House and Senate are expected to take no action on the measure, which means it will appear near the top of the November 2025 statewide ballot in Washington, above this year's candidate elections for federal, state, and local offices.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/01/brian-heywoods-il26-638-subjecting-young-female-athletes-to-invasive-genital-exams-gets-certified.html

#ClimateCrisis #Energy&Power #PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

NO on IL26-001 and IL26-638: We defeated right wing mega-millionaire Brian Heywood in 2024 and we can do it again in 2026

Protecting Washington's youth and communities from two divisive right wing initiatives will be our top electoral priority for the upcoming midterm elections.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/01/no-on-il26-001-and-il26-638-we-defeated-right-wing-mega-millionaire-brian-heywood-in-2024-and-we-can-do-it-again-in-2026.html

#PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

VICTORY! Washington State Republican Chair Jim Walsh hits the cancel button on his mass voter cancellation initiative

A proposed initiative to the 2026 legislature that sought to automatically deregister most voters from the rolls has died due to insufficient signatures.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/01/victory-washington-state-republican-chair-jim-walsh-hits-the-cancel-button-on-his-mass-voter-cancellation-initiative.html

#DefeatingVoterSuppressionSchemes #FairElections #PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

A new right wing entity called “Washington Rising” that’s helping Brian Heywood looks like a front for a national wealthy donor

The barebones website for Washington Rising contains a boilerplate manifesto that repeatedly references George Washington. Whoever is funding it seems to have serious money to work with and doesn't want their identity to be known to the public.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/12/a-new-right-wing-entity-called-washington-rising-thats-helping-brian-heywood-looks-like-a-front-for-a-national-wealthy-donor.html

#CleanCampaigns #MoneyinPolitics #PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

Let’s Go Washington and Brian Heywood reckon with the rising proclivity for political violence fomented by America’s right wing

Violence begets violence. It's therefore not surprising that Republicans and right wing organizers are now experiencing an increase in political violence themselves. They unleashed a monster, metaphorically speaking, and they can't control it.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/10/lets-go-washington-and-brian-heywood-reckon-with-the-rising-proclivity-for-political-violence-fomented-by-americas-right-wing.html

#FairElections #FirstFreedoms #PermanentDefense #PoliticalViolence #WA-Ballot

Washington voters emphatically rejected “buffer zones” for signature gatherers in 2013, but Brandi Kruse still wants them

The right wing podcaster is still upset that a Republican legislative effort to unconstitutionally restrict the people's right to peaceably assemble went nowhere after one of NPI's senior advisers made the case against it in 2023.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/09/washington-voters-emphatically-rejected-buffer-zones-for-signature-gatherers-in-2013-but-brandi-kruse-still-wants-them.html

#FairElections #FirstFreedoms #MisinformationandDisinformation #PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

Three good reads about NPI and Defend Washington’s work fighting this year’s bad statewide initiatives in Washington

Local and national outlets have been seeking out NPI's perspective on the four statewide initiatives that multimillionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood and Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh put in front of voters.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/microblog/2024/10/three-good-reads-about-npi-and-defend-washingtons-work-fighting-this-years-bad-statewide-initiatives-in-washington/

#PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

“We’ll pay more”: Defend Washington’s newest ad emphasizes that Brian Heywood’s bad initiatives would raise families’ costs

With the three week, in-state voting period about to begin, a new ad is going up on the air to make the case against the destructive ballot measures the Washington State Republican Party and its key donor are trying to con voters into passing.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/10/well-pay-more-defend-washingtons-newest-ad-emphasizes-that-brian-heywoods-bad-initiatives-would-raise-families-costs.html

#FiscalResponsibility #PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot

New ads drop from NO on I‑2117 and NO on I‑2124, featuring Bill Nye and Kim Allen

Nye makes the case that voters should reject an effort to do away with Washington's landmark Climate Commitment Act, while Allen calls for the rejection of the measure that would imperil WA Cares, the state's new long-term care fund.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/10/new-ads-drop-from-no-on-i-2117-and-no-on-i-2124-featuring-bill-nye-and-kim-allen.html

#PermanentDefense #WA-Ballot