A self‑funded right‑wing PAC backed by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood qualified three initiatives—two targeting trans and LGBTQ+ students and one to repeal a 9.9% millionaire tax—and pro‑trans organizers describe the ballot package as a coordinated effort to use culture‑war issues to drive turnout for a tax cut.
No Hate in WA State, led by campaign manager Libby Watson, is targeting progressive metro voters and framing the package as a billionaire‑funded distraction designed to suppress taxation of the wealthy.
Organizers face a funding gap and expect a large negative ad barrage, but point to recent history where three of four previous Heywood‑backed initiatives lost and a fourth was struck down by courts.
The campaign’s pathway focuses less on persuading conservative voters on trans sports and more on turnout among Democratic and progressive voters in dense metropolitan areas.
# Quick summary
# What the three initiatives would do
# Who's behind the drive The campaign to qualify and advance the measures is led by Let's Go Washington, a PAC paid for largely by Brian Heywood, a hedge fund manager and ally of former President Donald Trump. No Hate in WA State describes Heywood as the primary funder and says he has spent millions on signature gathering in the past 12 months to place the measures on the ballot.
# Opposition strategy and political calculations
The coalition is aware of resource disadvantages. Washington's pro‑trans advocates have been out‑fundraised in comparable fights in other states, and organizers expect a large spend on negative advertising by Let's Go Washington as Election Day approaches. No Hate points to a modest advantage: historically, three out of four prior initiatives tied to Heywood and his allies were defeated, and the remaining measure was declared unconstitutional by courts.
# Stakes and likely dynamics The package combines cultural and fiscal issues in a single "Yes" campaign, which organizers say is designed to unify and mobilize a conservative turnout that might otherwise not prioritize a tax repeal alone. For No Hate in WA State, the immediate objective is to persuade and mobilize progressive voters in midterm turnout patterns—emphasizing both the content of the measures and the financing behind them.
Campaign leaders expect the contest to be shaped by intensive paid media and ground operations in the weeks before the election, and by debates over privacy, school safety, and taxation. The outcome will hinge on turnout patterns in metropolitan areas and how effectively each side frames the three measures for different voter groups.
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