The winners
Players who came out ahead in the 2026 Legislature
Editor’s Note: It’s time to take stock of how various players fare in the 2026 Legislature. Today we look at who came out ahead this year. We’ll round up the losers later this week.
Winner of the year: Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen
The longtime Seattle Democrat’s ambition to challenge the century-old constitutional ban on income taxes before a modern-day version of the Supremes is well established. Assuming his “millionaires tax” survives this year’s election, he’ll get that fight, likely sometime next year, in front of a newish version of the court.
Just getting to the tension-filled marathon House debate and narrow vote to pass the tax was a monumental achievement that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Even if you think the idea is socialist insanity likely to send the state’s economy into a NASCAR-level crackup, you have to tip your cap.
Pedersen’s forte is the long game. In this case, he and allies in the Legislature systematically dismantled most of the Tim Eyman-era obstacles to raising taxes in recent years, tilting (or evening, depending on your perspective) the playing field of the ballot initiative — long a killing field for such ideas — to their advantage.
