Let's Go Washington & Brian Heywood reckon with the rising proclivity for political violence fomented by America's right
Despite having taken a drubbing in last years presidential election, right wing multimilliionaire Brian Heywood is once again gambling that he can goose turnout for Republicans and overturn more laws that he and his extremist MAGA buddies dont like with another slate of initiatives aimed at the statewide ballot. This time, though, instead of appealing to Washingtonians pocketbooks which backfired horribly in 2024 Heywood is going all in on the culture wars, with a measure to rescind the new parental and student bill of rights passed by Democrats in the spring and another measure that seeks to ban transgender girls from student athletics in Washington.
Since making his decision, Heywood (appropriately dubbed Tim Eyman with a gigantic bank account by Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner) has once again opened his wallet to fund a multi-measure signature drive. He transferred $100,000 to Lets Go Washington on September 9th, $150,000 on September 15th, $300,000 on September 22nd, and another $300,000 (2x $150,000 payments) on October 1st. His aggregate total for the year is $1,321,845.00 $1.3 million. And theres more to come.
Heywood has the money to procure the signatures that he needs to qualify both measures, which have the identifiers IL-006 and IL-628. His due date is in early January 2026. Considering his success in buying his way onto the ballot two years ago with six simultaneous initiatives, we expect hell be able to do so again. Anyone with enough money is usually able to bring a signature drive to a successful conclusion.
Heywoods petitioners have already hit the streets. Theyre in front of Walmarts. Theyre working ferry lines. Theyre at events. Many have no idea what the measures they are carrying would do, or who would be affected. Mercenary petitioners have been astonished to learn that the measure targeting transgender girls, for instance, is aimed at fewer than a dozen young Washingtonians, and some have reacted to acquiring that knowledge by saying they could not in good conscience continue working for Heywood.
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