KNKX is covering a selection of races across Western Washington this election. These results will be updated after 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Tacoma voters will decide on a ballot initiative that could strengthen the enforcement of renter protections.
Initiative 1, called Safe Homes For All, seeks to improve compliance with Tacoma’s renter protections laws by requiring the city to investigate complaints about bad landlords. If the city finds that a violation has taken place, the landlord would have to pay the tenant a minimum of $500 — or up to five times the monthly rent for more serious violations.
The measure would also create a new per-unit license fee and require landlords to bargain with renters who form tenant unions.
The initiative is a follow-up to the Tenant Bill of Rights passed by Tacoma voters in 2023, which added a suite of new tenant protections, but did not come with a mechanism requiring the city to enforce it.
Landlord and real estate groups rallied against the measure, arguing that the new fees and regulations would make housing less affordable by driving small landlords out of Tacoma. Supporters argued that the regulations would add accountability and prevent rampant issues with code violations and illegal rent hikes.
The proposal generated heated debate and massive spending in the final weeks of the election.
Landlord and real estate groups poured over $850,000 into defeating the initiative, more than doubling the record for political spending in a Tacoma city race, which was previously set by opposition spending against the 2023 initiative, according to analysis from Tacoma For All.
Pierce County transit measure: Proposition 1 would nearly double bus service in the region. It would raise the sales tax rate an additional 3 cents on every $10 spent. Pierce Transit said this would enable more bus service, shorter wait times and new routes.
Pierce County said the higher tax would allow it to increase bus service by 47% — extending service hours, shortening bus wait times and adding four new routes. It would also make all bus rides free for seniors, and add more connections to regional transit stops like the Tacoma Dome light rail station planned for 2035.
Previous attempts to raise Pierce Transit’s sales tax failed to pass in 2011 and 2012. Transit advocates say the failure of those measures was a huge blow that led to service reductions and set Pierce Transit behind peer agencies.
“The level of service we currently have is not sufficient for a city like Tacoma, or a county as large as Pierce County, that is anticipating such a high level of growth over the next 20 years,” “Tacoma On the Go” Director Laura Svancarek said in an interview last week.
Pierce County has grown significantly over the past decade, and is projected to add about 275,000 more residents by 2044.
Proposition 1 didn’t have an organized opposition campaign. The “statement against” on the voter’s pamphlet was written by Tacoma resident John Miles, who said he stepped up to write it after hearing that nobody else wanted to.
Miles said he agreed that Pierce County needs better transit service, but he argued that a sales tax was not a good way to fund it, because it is a regressive tax that hits lower-income people harder.
Supporters of Proposition 1 said a sales tax is one of the only options the state legislature makes available to fund transit measures, and that the tax would not apply to groceries, rent or medicine.
Pierce County Council District 1: Republican candidate Jerome O'Leary is running against Democrat Kelsey Barrans.
Pierce County Council District 5: Incumbent Democratic Councilmember Bryan Yambe is facing Republican challenger Bettina Gese.
Council District 7: In this race, Democrat Brenda Lykins is running against Republican candidate Mike Solan, the former president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild who has generated controversy in the past for comments he made about Black Lives Matter protestors. The seat is being vacated by Robyn Denson.
See all election results on the Pierce County website.
