Oct. 2026 (Week 3): Keeping the Pace, Three Weeks Out
It’s taken a lot of work to get to this moment, and there are still a few busy weeks to go yet. Within the frenzy of activity (and anxiety) about the election, it’s important to take the time you need for self-care. Remember to pace yourself or ask for an assist. We’re all in this together, we all want roughly the same thing, so let’s all do what we can keep each other in fighting shape.
Here are a few races we want to put special emphasis on:
- Five (FIVE!) Washington state’s Supreme Court Justices will be on the ballot this year. We need to ensure that our communities receive just and fair support. These state supreme court races will be crucial in shaping how the people of our state weather the years ahead.
- Three initiatives will be on the ballot this fall, all courtesy of Brian Heywood. All three must be defeated.
- I-638 would require girls (but notably: not boys!) to undergo genital inspection to play sports at school.
- I-001 risks removing protections for children in abusive homes and would all but require outing students to their caretakers.
- I-645 is a last-ditch effort to repeal implementation of the “Millionaires’ Tax” on income earned beyond a million dollars.
- Over in the 12th Legislative District, Democrat Stacy Willoughby could flip an important seat. She’s facing a well-funded, extreme-right MAGA opponent. This seat is ready to flip and the people of LD12 are ready for change!
Of course, these aren’t the only races that could use your help. Our endorsements are the result of scores of interviews with candidates at every level. Every one of them would welcome your involvement.
While we’re at it, everybody should take a moment to review their rights and make sure they have the Voter Protection Hotline handy: 206-309-8683. If you see something, say something.
Lastly, this Saturday from 2pm to 5pm, No Kings is back with both a march and voting fair. Learn more here, or find an event near you!
Get Involved
- Local and State Party Events – Washington State Democratic Party
- Calendar – King County Democrats
- Washington for All: Sign up for ICE Mobilization Alerts · Washington Indivisible Network
- Volunteer Opportunities, Events, and Petitions · No Hate in WA State on Mobilize
- Events | Elect Stacy Willoughby
- Ballot Box Observers: 2026 General Election Adopt A Ballot Box
- Take Action | Indivisible
- Washington State Democrats – Winnable
- Volunteer Opportunities, Events, and Petitions Near Me · Mobilize
- Bop to the Box! Stronger Together by Voting Together Oct 25 — West Seattle Indivisible
- No Kings Vote Early – GOTV Banners Over Issaquah, every Tuesday· Mobilize
- Labor Neighbor Doorbelling for LD 48 Oct 17 · Mobilize
- Knock Doors for Rebecca Saldaña – Skyway & South Seattle Oct 25 · Mobilize
- Knock Doors for NO on Initiatives Oct 31 – Seattle · Mobilize
- Ballard Link Extension community forum set for Oct. 19
Strategize
- Heywood, Dhingra clash over Washington’s millionaire tax at Bellevue forum
- New Dark Money Group Dropped $30,000 Into Seattle City Council Race In Total Anonymity
- New Poll: Four in Five Voters Fear Their Rights Are Being Taken Away. They’re Also Determined to Vote. – Ms. Magazine
- Trump admin is skipping international election observers for 2026 midterms | Snopes.com
- Senate Democrats to Send Election Observers to Swing States
- Trump isn’t ruling out declaring national emergency around election
- Rural America May Be Ground Zero for Health System Reform
- Eyebrows Raise When Elon Musk’s Twitter Engagement Shrivels After Destruction of Russian Data Centers
- Winning the Midterms Is Not Enough
Stay Informed
- Washington State Supreme Court Elections Visualizer
- Washington, Finland sign cooperative agreement to build economic, innovation partnerships | Governor Bob Ferguson
- Op-Ed: Give Ballard a Sounder Stop While It Waits for Light Rail
- West Seattle light rail construction planned for 2027 | king5.com
- Reykdal opposes federal tax credit program, urges gov to reject • Washington State Standard
- U.S. suspends Microsoft, Adobe from green-card labor program
- Seattle tech layoffs add up as smaller job cuts mount – Axios Seattle
- Texas sued for failing to process 500,000+ voter registrations
- Real-time crime-center surveillance software goes far beyond Flock : NPR
- ICE Planning $100 Million ‘Nightmare’ Domestic Spy Program – The American Prospect
- 37 Deaths in One Year: Why ICE Should be Abolished – Emerald Book
- ICE Probes Voting Groups, Infiltrates Anti-ICE Crews in Election Crackdown – Newsweek
- It Won’t Stop With Ilhan Omar
- Watch an Unconstitutional Flock Search
- Is Zelensky right to say data centre strikes have taken down Russian bots?
- Ukrainian military’s access to Starlink satellite internet suddenly restricted | Ukraine | The Guardian
- EXCLUSIVE: Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say | Reuters
- Oligarchs like Elon Musk are tightening their grip on the Pentagon
- ‘We Are Watching You’: Poland Warns Musk Over Starlink
- Officials Flagged a $580M Oil Bet Made Minutes Before Trump’s Iran Reversal, Then Were Told to Back Off | IBTimes UK
- ‘Let Them Eat Cake’: How Trump Family Pocketed Nearly $3 Billion While Millions of Americans Lost Food Aid | Common Dreams
- Some of the super wealthy are plowing money into a tax loophole to slash taxes to 0 : NPR
- Rural Data Centers Are in for a Big Federal Tax Break | WIRED
- OpenAI PR tells journalist to ‘move on’ while asking Sam Altman about a ChatGPT user’s suicide | The Verge
- Today, oversight hearings devolve into partisan brawls
- From the Panama Papers to the Epstein Files: Investigating Leaks and Large-Scale Data in the Age of AI – Global Investigative Journalism Network
- This Supreme Court Term: Our Rights and Freedoms at Stake | American Civil Liberties Union
- The ‘American Dream’ Now Costs More Than $5.3 Million
- Americans’ Social Activity Has Steeply Declined in the Past 30 Years
- 1.7 million skilled trade jobs to open annually through 2035, report says
- Hegseth’s TV instincts backfire as Trump rejects execution livestream | Reuters
- What Hasan Piker Believes – The Atlantic
Take care out there.
Kristopher Katz, Vice Chair for Communications
King County Democrats
King County Democrats
P.S. Previous newsletters and other messages from us can be found here.
Paid for by King County Democrats, PO Box 9100, Seattle, WA 98109