State Supreme Court Thwarts Attack on Popular Initiatives

Friday, August 9, Brian Heywood with Let’s Go Washington was informed that their popular initiatives, including four set to be on the November ballot, were in jeopardy and waiting for a Supreme Court ruling within a few hours. 

On Friday, August 9, Washington State Supreme Court (Olympia) ruled unanimously against two lawsuits filed by Defend Washington and Washington Conservation Action Education Fund against Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. The progressive groups had hoped to stop all seven initiatives, even the three that were passed into law in March. The remaining four are set to be on the ballot in November.

The following is a statement from Let’s Go Washington, dated August 12, 2024:

‍DEFEND WASHINGTON DOING EVERYTHING IT CAN TO SILENCE THE PEOPLE

‍REDMOND, WA - Last Friday, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the people and against special interests working to suppress the voice of voters. Defend Washington and Washington Conservation Education Action Fund, who are actively fighting to suppress voter’s voices, filed a baseless lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s office which would have removed the four ballot initiatives from the November election.

See Brian Heywood’s statement below:

‍“Defend Washington and Washington Conservation Education Action Fund, funded by Nick Hanauer, the SEIU and WEA, are afraid of Washington State voters. Their latest move is a blatant attempt to silence the 1.2 million voters who said they want choice on the ballot this November. Hanauer and friends are afraid if the voters have a chance to vote this November, it would disrupt the special interest profiteering pipeline they have created. We will continue fighting to give all voters a choice this fall. We have acted in accordance with the law, the Secretary of State has proven it every time we have qualified the people’s initiatives for the ballot. We have one message for Nick and his pals: desperation doesn’t look good on you. Join us against special interest profiteer Nick Hanauer this fall. Vote Yes, Pay Less, and let’s fix what’s broken.” 

Attorney General Bob Ferguson spent the weekend defending himself against the rightful criticism he is receiving from legislators, voters, and the media. As the story has continued to evolve, more questions have emerged about the AG’s involvement in the case. Here are some of the most pressing questions we urge reporters to ask the wannabe governor and his democracy-averse donors: 

• Why didn’t Ferguson alert Let’s Go Washington or Brian Heywood that they were explicitly named in the lawsuit? Ask any lawyer whether the primary party should be notified that they are named in a suit and they will tell you it is common practice to do so. Nevermind the glib response that the Secretary of State was the main party named in the suit, when a person or organization is named in a case of this kind, it is common to, at the very least, provide a public notice to the party. 
• Why didn’t Ferguson then recuse himself from the case? Bob has made his stance on the initiatives abundantly clear and is taking money from Nick Hanauer, and many opponents of the initiatives. Those are conditions for recusal in court and yet, the Attorney General remained on the case. 
• Why was the case held behind closed doors and without any notification to LGW to provide information or legal cover on the people’s behalf? It is not the job of the public to pour over daily files of the Washington State Supreme Court to determine if they have been named in a court case, so why wasn’t LGW or Heywood at least notified that they were the topic of conversation in an expedited court case that could potentially rollback the will of 1.2 million voters? 
• Why are Nick Hanauer and Defend Washington so afraid of allowing the people of Washington State the right to use their voices? 
• Are Defend Washington, Washington Conservation Education Action Fund, the SEIU, and WEA proponents of voter ID laws? Because they want to change the Constitution to require different information for the initiative process to continue (a process that has been in place by the Secretary of State since 1970) will they be lobbying for new voter identification tactics for all elections and initiative campaigns? 

 Defend Washington, Washington Conservation Education Action Fund, the SEIU, and WEA clearly don’t want the voice of the people to be heard, but regardless of how hard they try to derail democracy, Washington voters will have the chance to decide the future of the state with four ballot initiatives this November. 

Visit letsgowashington.com for more information. 

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Here is an interview of Brian Heywood with Burien.News (Aug 9) that same morning as they were bringing public awareness to I-2117 in Burien at the Shell Station.

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