Updated results show Washington voters continue to reject millionaires’ tax repeal

Updated results Wednesday show Washington voters continuing to oppose Initiative 645, which would repeal the state’s new tax on household income above $1 million.

So far, 58.09% of votes counted opposed I-645, while 41.91% supported it.

“From the national results to the early returns on the millionaires’ tax, tonight’s results suggest that voters want leaders focused on affordability, opportunity, and the needs of working families,” King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said in a statement Tuesday night.

I-645, sponsored by Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood, would have repealed the 9.9% tax the legislature passed earlier this year if it had passed. Additionally, the initiative would have barred state and local governments from taxing individual income overall and would have prevented the legislature from changing its terms for two years without a supermajority.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson and Heywood traded shots Tuesday night following initial results. Heywood blamed Ferguson for what he said will be a mass exodus of businesses and high earners, while Ferguson celebrated, saying Washington shouldn’t give tax breaks to millionaires.

On “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio Wednesday, Ferguson said he would veto any attempt to lower the tax threshold.

“I’ll come right in here with you guys and veto it right here. How’s that?” Ferguson said.

Ballot’s wording sparks controversy

The ballot’s wording sparked controversy as a yes vote repealed the tax, while a no vote would have kept it. A one-sentence disclosure on the ballot, written by the Attorney General’s Office, said the measure “would decrease funding” for K-12 education, higher education, and human services, primarily health care.

Let’s Go Washington argued the statement is misleading because no revenue would be collected until 2029, so repeal wouldn’t cut current spending. A Thurston County judge upheld the language Aug. 7, and a state Supreme Court commissioner rejected a separate appeal.

What the millionaires’ tax does

Ferguson signed the tax into law March 30. It will take effect January 1, 2028, with the first payments due in 2029.

The tax applies to Washington taxable income above $1 million per household, so a household with $1,000,500 in taxable income would owe tax on $500. The $1 million deduction is indexed to inflation.

The Department of Revenue estimates approximately 20,000 households will pay it, and backers project $3 billion to $3.5 billion a year. Ferguson’s office said more than 41% of the revenue raised in the first full year will return to families and small businesses through tax credits and relief.

The state’s fiscal impact statement estimated the repeal would have reduced state revenue by about $11.4 billion from fiscal 2027 through 2031.

The legal cloud

The tax still faces a constitutional lawsuit. Petter v. Washington, filed in April in Klickitat County Superior Court by former Attorney General Rob McKenna and former state Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, argues the tax violates the state’s requirement that property be taxed uniformly at no more than 1%.

It relies on Culliton v. Chase, a 1933 ruling that treated income as property. The state says income is not property. The case is expected to reach the state Supreme Court, likely after the election.

November vote ends fiery months-long debate

Since it was signed into law earlier this year, the tax and I-645 have been at the center of intense discussion and debate, becoming one of the defining issues in the 2026 election cycle.

At a Bellevue forum held in mid-October, Heywood and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Bothell, disagreed over whether the tax is limited to millionaires or a first step toward a broader income tax. Heywood argued voters shouldn’t trust lawmakers to keep the threshold at $1 million, and supporters of the tax say the indexing and a clause in the law tie its exemption from the state’s 2024 income tax ban to the $1 million deduction.

During a The Seattle Times-KING 5 debate last month, April Sims, president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, argued that repealing the tax would give the state’s wealthiest residents a massive tax break while putting health care and education funding at risk.

“This is an attempt by a handful of the wealthiest people in our state to give themselves a $13 billion tax break, while cutting investments in education and healthcare,” Sims said. “This measure would decrease funding for public K through 12 education, higher education, including universities and community colleges, and human services, primarily healthcare. So, vote no on Initiative 645.”

On the other side of the debate, former Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler argued the tax is the first step toward a broader income tax that could eventually affect more Washingtonians.

“The architect of this income tax bill has stated publicly that he wants to expand it to every working Washingtonian,” she said. “So, income tax supporters will say, ‘We want you to think this is only about millionaires,’ but they put every piece in place to expand it to every working Washingtonian. Olympia lawmakers voted against locking in the $1 million threshold.”

She pointed to lawmakers’ decision, several times, not to pass a proposal that would have locked the $1 million income threshold into law.

“Why would they do that if they don’t intend to lower it?” she asked.

This story was originally published on Nov. 3, 2026. It has been updated and republished since then.

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