It would be great if all political advertising was honest. But even though the state oversees elections, it can’t require campaigns to be truthful – our state Supreme Court has said as much, ruling twice in the past 30 years that it’s not the job of government to protect voters from claims that are false.
I understand the reasoning. Still, it’s disappointing when candidates twist or simply ignore facts to attack their opponents in a way that is very personal but not quite defamatory. I’ve been on the receiving end of that more in 2026 than any of the other times I’ve run for office. But what’s worse is how some campaigns clearly try to play on what they apparently view as the ignorance of the people.
This is particularly true concerning the pro-taxpayer, pro-girl, pro-family initiatives on Washington’s Nov. 3 general-election ballot. Opponents seem to be following the same political playbook for all three measures: exaggerate the consequences in hopes of frightening voters and hope nobody bothers to check the facts.
Initiative 001 is the second parental-rights initiative to be certified in the past three years. Its predecessor, I-2081, became law in 2024 after receiving unanimous support in the Senate and 83% of the House. But a majority of Democrat legislators turned around the following year to gut the law and put government back between students and their parents.
It’s perplexing that I-001 opponents seem so unconcerned about documented school-related problems like pandemic learning loss and chronic absenteeism yet claim passing this measure will somehow harm the mental health of students. To me and other supporters, I-001 is about transparency. What parent wouldn’t want to know more about what happens to their children at school?
I-638 is about fairness in girls’ athletics at K-12 schools. Opponents are doing their best to frighten the parents of girls by criticizing the process that would ensure only female students participate. Don’t they realize the parents of girls are likely more worried about protecting their daughters from being injured by or losing their spot on the team to a student who shouldn’t be eligible?
Thankfully, high-school athletes in Camas have dared to act without waiting for the adults. These brave girls have forfeited their right to compete in protest of having to race against a boy who is biologically stronger. Good for them.
But the prize for dishonesty goes to the opponents of Initiative 645, to repeal Washington’s unnecessary and unconstitutional new income tax.
The income-tax law doesn’t promise a single budget appropriation to K-12 schools, colleges and universities, or healthcare. Yet both the campaign against I-645 and the text of the official ballot title falsely claim repealing the tax would decrease funding in those three categories.
There’s one rather inconvenient fact missing from that argument: The state hasn’t collected a dime from this tax, and it won’t until 2029.
It’s impossible to decrease funding that doesn’t exist. Or, as someone writing on a neighborhood-focused social media site put it, you can’t cut cloth that has yet to be woven.
Their decision to call the income tax a “millionaires tax” is another sign that the supporters view voters as gullible. The standard deduction of $1 million is found in just one sentence in the law, meaning the deduction can easily be lowered or eliminated by the same majority that approved the tax in the first place. Change or delete a few words and an income tax on some people becomes an income tax on more people – or everyone.
In fact, a Democratic legislator has already proposed lowering the limit down to $250,000 per household. That means an experienced nurse making $125,000 per year married to a software engineer or a plumber making $125,000 per year would qualify to have any income taxed above their base salary. Expect that Democrats, given the chance, would lower it to sweep all of us in.
Remember how Republicans fought in the Senate and House to send the income tax directly to the ballot as a referendum? Democrats refused. Knowing how the people have rejected an income tax 10 times already, the last thing they wanted was an automatic public vote.
Republicans also pushed for a proposed constitutional amendment to permanently limit the income threshold to $1 million. That too would require a public vote, but Democrats refused. They don’t like limits, especially when it comes to taxes and spending.
Consider all this when you read the official state voters’ guide and find the claim by the pro-income tax side that “any attempt to expand it [the threshold] to those of us making under a million would be decided on the ballot — voters always have the final say.”
That claim is completely false. Supporters of the income tax did their best to keep I-645 from getting off the ground. The opportunity to repeal it exists only because more than 500,000 registered voters took action earlier this year.
Between now and Nov. 3, your eyes and ears will be bombarded with ads urging you to vote “no” on all three initiatives. Most of the effort will involve I-645, for the simple reason that only the income tax would enrich Olympia and the special interests that feed on taxpayer dollars. We saw the same thing happen in 2024, when those interests poured tens of millions into the campaigns to defeat the three pro-affordability initiatives on that ballot.
If you have yet to vote your ballot and are uncertain where you stand on these measures, I encourage you to remember the ads opposing them aren’t required to tell the truth. That includes the commercial featuring the Washington resident who hosts a popular television game show – and the ballot title prepared by our partisan state attorney general, even though it’s in the official state voters’ pamphlet.
Instead, read the text of the initiatives, consider the claims made about them and ask one question: Is this what the measures actually do, or is someone trying to mislead me?
I’ll be voting “yes” on I-645, I-001 and I-638. I hope you do as well. Show the opponents that they’re wrong to think you’re gullible. It’s how our state does better.
Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia)
Senator John Braun was first elected to the Washington State Senate in 2012 to represent Southwest Washington’s 20th Legislative District, which includes most of Cowlitz and Lewis counties along with parts of Clark and Thurston.
John is leader of the Senate Republican Caucus and a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, the Labor & Commerce Committee, and the Housing Committee.
Prior to his business career, John served on active duty in the U.S. Navy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington and master’s degrees in business administration and manufacturing engineering from the University of Michigan.
He and his family reside on a small farm in rural Lewis County, outside Centralia.
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliate
Author: Lynnwood Times Contributor
