Five-second answer

Claim we investigated

Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times.

Mostly true. Voters rejected ten income-tax measures from 1934 to 2010, but approved one in 1932 that courts struck down. The Secretary of State's ballot history and official results show ten failed personal or corporate income-tax measures from 1934 to 2010, a count KUOW's independent reporting matches, while HistoryLink and the same records show the 1932 approval and other context the statement leaves out.

Quote or cite this fact-check

FactHub rates the claim “Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times” Mostly true (high confidence): Voters rejected ten income-tax measures from 1934 to 2010, but approved one in 1932 that courts struck down. Reviewed October 21, 2026. https://facthub.org/n/article/i645-rejected-income-tax-ten-times/3

One-minute summary

What the evidence establishes

  • Established. The Secretary of State lists 11 statewide votes on a personal or corporate income tax since 1932; voters rejected ten of them, from 1934 to 2010.
  • Established. Voters approved the first, Initiative 69 in 1932, by 70%; the state Supreme Court struck it down 5-4 in 1933.
  • Established. Six of the ten defeats were constitutional amendments, two (1975, 1982) were corporate-only taxes, and the last was Initiative 1098 in 2010 (64.15% No).
  • Established. The oldest defeat, in 1934, is 92 years old; strictly within the last 90 years there are nine.
  • Context. In 2024 voters kept the capital gains tax, 64.11% to 35.89%; courts classify it as an excise, so it is not on the income-tax list.
  • Not shown. The record does not show why voters said no or how they will vote on I-645.
Important context: This is the first factual claim in the Yes side's statement in the 2026 state voters' pamphlet for Initiative 645, which would repeal Washington's new 9.9% tax on household income over $1 million. The count is about statewide ballot votes; it does not by itself say how voters will decide in 2026. Of the ten defeats, six were constitutional amendments and two were corporate income taxes, and the oldest, in 1934, falls two years outside a strict 90-year window.

Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times because they knew it would threaten economic growth, discourage investment, and reach beyond the people originally targeted.

Committee for the argument for Initiative 645 (Sen. Chris Gildon and five co-authors), Authors of the official voters' pamphlet argument for I-645 2026 Washington voters' pamphlet, Initiative Measure IP26-645, p. 14, argument for: "Vote Yes: Repeal the Income Tax, Make Olympia Keep Its Word" · · Assertion

Context: Part of the official argument for Initiative 645 printed on page 14 of the 2026 Washington state voters' pamphlet, under the heading shown in this statement's table row. The statement was written by the committee appointed to write the argument for the measure.

Source: Washington Secretary of State, 2026 voters' pamphlet · View in the dataset

The evidence

The conclusion rests on the combined record. Expand each item to see its role and limitations.

Independence note: This check uses 5 methods across 4 institutions and 1 country or international grouping.
Evidence map
Method Institution / country Year(s) What it shows Key limitation Primary links
Reading the official voters' pamphlet text Washington Secretary of State United States 2026 The Yes side's statement in the 2026 voters' pamphlet opens its first section with the sentence rated here, followed by the campaign's explanation of why voters said no. The No side's statement does not dispute the count. The statement is written by the Yes committee, not the Secretary of State, and does not list which ten votes it means. Washington Secretary of State
Reading the official ballot-measure history Washington Secretary of State United States 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1944, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1982, 2010 The page says voters were asked on 11 occasions to adopt a personal or corporate income tax and that only the first, in 1932, passed. It lists the ten defeats: constitutional amendments in 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1970 and 1973; Initiative 158 (1944), a 3% gross-income tax; corporate-only Initiatives 314 (1975) and 435 (1982); and Initiative 1098 (2010). Yes shares ranged from 22% (1936) to 43% (1934). The live page now returns an error, so this relies on an archived copy from October 13, 2026. The list includes corporate taxes and a gross-income tax, and it does not include the 2024 capital gains vote. Washington Secretary of State
Certified statewide election results Washington Secretary of State, Washington Attorney General United States 2010, 2024 Initiative 1098 (2010), a tax on income above $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for couples, lost 1,616,273 to 903,319 (64.15% No). In 2024, Initiative 2109, which the Attorney General's ballot statement said would repeal the capital gains tax, lost 2,437,419 to 1,364,510 (64.11% No), so the tax on long-term gains above $250,000 stayed. Results show how people voted, not why. The 2024 measure was about a capital gains excise tax, which the state does not classify as an income tax. Washington Secretary of State Washington Secretary of State Washington Attorney General
Historical account of the 1932 vote and the court decision HistoryLink United States 1932, 1933 HistoryLink, the online encyclopedia of Washington history, records that 70% of voters approved Initiative 69 in 1932 and that the Supreme Court, by 5-4, treated income as property and struck the tax down under the constitution's uniformity rule. Most of the later defeats were constitutional amendments meant to get around that ruling. A secondary historical essay rather than the opinion itself; it reports that some scholars call the ruling's reasoning tortured, which is a view, not a finding. HistoryLink.org
Comparison with independent news reporting KUOW United States 2026 KUOW, Seattle's NPR station, reported in January 2026, before the millionaires tax passed, that Washingtonians had rejected income taxes ten times in 90 years, and noted that two of the efforts were corporate taxes. The count is therefore shared by neutral reporting, not unique to the Yes campaign. A news report, not an official record; it uses the same 90-year wording without discussing the 1934 date. KUOW (Seattle's NPR station)
1. What the Yes statement says Reading the official voters' pamphlet text

The Yes side's statement in the 2026 voters' pamphlet opens its first section with the sentence rated here, followed by the campaign's explanation of why voters said no. The No side's statement does not dispute the count.

Limit: The statement is written by the Yes committee, not the Secretary of State, and does not list which ten votes it means.

Verify: 2026 voters' pamphlet, Initiative Measure IP26-645, statements for and against

2. The Secretary of State's list of income-tax ballot measures Reading the official ballot-measure history

The page says voters were asked on 11 occasions to adopt a personal or corporate income tax and that only the first, in 1932, passed. It lists the ten defeats: constitutional amendments in 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1970 and 1973; Initiative 158 (1944), a 3% gross-income tax; corporate-only Initiatives 314 (1975) and 435 (1982); and Initiative 1098 (2010). Yes shares ranged from 22% (1936) to 43% (1934).

Limit: The live page now returns an error, so this relies on an archived copy from October 13, 2026. The list includes corporate taxes and a gross-income tax, and it does not include the 2024 capital gains vote.

Verify: Income Tax Ballot Measures (archived October 13, 2026)

3. Official results of the two most recent votes on taxing high incomes Certified statewide election results

Initiative 1098 (2010), a tax on income above $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for couples, lost 1,616,273 to 903,319 (64.15% No). In 2024, Initiative 2109, which the Attorney General's ballot statement said would repeal the capital gains tax, lost 2,437,419 to 1,364,510 (64.11% No), so the tax on long-term gains above $250,000 stayed.

Limit: Results show how people voted, not why. The 2024 measure was about a capital gains excise tax, which the state does not classify as an income tax.

Verify: November 2, 2010 General Election Results: Initiative Measure 1098 November 5, 2024 General Election Results: Initiative Measure No. 2109 Ballot Title and Explanatory Statement for Initiative No. 2109 (July 23, 2024)

4. The 1932 approval and the 1933 court ruling Historical account of the 1932 vote and the court decision

HistoryLink, the online encyclopedia of Washington history, records that 70% of voters approved Initiative 69 in 1932 and that the Supreme Court, by 5-4, treated income as property and struck the tax down under the constitution's uniformity rule. Most of the later defeats were constitutional amendments meant to get around that ruling.

Limit: A secondary historical essay rather than the opinion itself; it reports that some scholars call the ruling's reasoning tortured, which is a view, not a finding.

Verify: Washington State Supreme Court declares citizen-approved state income tax unconstitutional on September 8, 1933

5. Independent reporting uses the same count Comparison with independent news reporting

KUOW, Seattle's NPR station, reported in January 2026, before the millionaires tax passed, that Washingtonians had rejected income taxes ten times in 90 years, and noted that two of the efforts were corporate taxes. The count is therefore shared by neutral reporting, not unique to the Yes campaign.

Limit: A news report, not an official record; it uses the same 90-year wording without discussing the 1934 date.

Verify: Washington state voters have rejected income taxes 10 times. Is this year different?

Common questions

“The oldest defeat was in 1934, which is more than 90 years ago.”

Short answer: Yes, by two years

Correct. Counted strictly from 1936, the last 90 years contain nine defeats, not ten. KUOW used the same '90 years' wording in January 2026, and the gap is two years, so this is a small overstatement rather than an invented number. It is one reason the rating is Mostly true.

“Voters actually approved an income tax once.”

Short answer: Yes, in 1932

Initiative 69 passed with 70% in 1932. The state Supreme Court struck it down 5-4 in 1933. The Yes statement leaves this out; it does not change the count of defeats, but a full history includes it.

“Not all ten were taxes on people's income.”

Short answer: Right: two were corporate

Initiatives 314 (1975) and 435 (1982) would have taxed corporations only. The 1944 measure was a 3% gross-income tax tied to pensions, and the 1970 and 1973 amendments were bundled with property-tax or school-levy changes. Counting only stand-alone personal income-tax proposals gives a smaller number, though voters rejected all of them.

“In 2024 voters chose to keep a tax on high earners.”

Short answer: Yes, the capital gains tax

Initiative 2109 would have repealed the 7% capital gains tax; 64.11% voted no. Courts classify that tax as an excise, and the Secretary of State does not list it as an income-tax vote, so it does not reduce the count. It does show that voters' record on taxing high earners is not one-sided, which the Yes statement omits.

“Ten defeats mean voters will reject the millionaires tax too.”

Short answer: Not something we rate

Past votes are a fact; how voters decide on November 3, 2026 is a prediction. The question in 2026 is also different: I-645 asks whether to repeal a tax the Legislature already passed, not whether to adopt one.

Conclusion

The Secretary of State's history page lists 11 statewide votes on a personal or corporate income tax. Voters approved the first, Initiative 69 in 1932, by 70 percent, and the state Supreme Court struck it down 5-4 in 1933 on the ground that income is property and must be taxed uniformly. Voters rejected the other ten: constitutional amendments in 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1970 and 1973; initiatives in 1944, 1975 and 1982; and Initiative 1098 in 2010, which lost 64.15 to 35.85 percent. KUOW's January 2026 report uses the same count, so the number ten is not the Yes campaign's invention. The statement's main point, that voters have repeatedly and usually heavily rejected income taxes, is accurate. It is rated Mostly true rather than True for three reasons that add context without overturning the count. First, the oldest defeat (1934) is 92 years old; counted strictly from 1936, the last 90 years hold nine defeats. Second, the list is broader than a personal income tax: two measures (1975 and 1982) would have taxed only corporations, the 1944 measure was a 3 percent gross-income tax tied to pensions, and the 1970 and 1973 amendments were packaged with property-tax or school-levy changes. Third, the statement leaves out that voters approved an income tax once, in 1932, and that in 2024 they voted 64 to 36 percent to keep the capital gains tax, a tax on high earners' gains that the courts classify as an excise rather than an income tax. That 2024 vote is not an income-tax vote under the state's own classification, so it does not reduce the count, but it cuts against reading the history as voters always rejecting taxes aimed at high earners. The statement also gives a reason for the votes, that voters 'knew it would threaten economic growth'; that is the campaign's interpretation of voters' motives and is not rated here. Confidence is high because the count rests on official vote records that independent reporting matches. Whether 2026 voters will follow the pattern is a prediction this article does not rate.

How we checked

  1. Defined the claim as the Yes statement's exact sentence: statewide votes rejecting an income tax, counted over the last 90 years.
  2. Read the Secretary of State's list of income-tax ballot measures (archived copy) and recorded each measure's year, type, subject and result.
  3. Checked the two most recent high-income tax votes (2010 and 2024) against certified results and the Attorney General's 2024 ballot statement.
  4. Checked the 1932 vote and 1933 ruling against an independent historical account.
  5. Compared the count with independent news reporting.
  6. Recorded where the claim's window, scope and omissions differ from the record.

Editorial note: Scope: statewide ballot measures on a state income tax listed by the Washington Secretary of State, plus the 2024 capital gains vote as context. Legislative bills that never reached the ballot, local measures and the 2026 law itself are outside the count. This article rates one sentence of the Yes side's voters' pamphlet statement; a companion set of FactHub articles checks claims from both sides' statements with the same rules. FactHub takes no position on I-645.

Expert-review status

No external specialist review has been recorded.

Funding and conflicts

Funding: No external funding for this piece.

Ownership: Published by the FactHub Research Team.

Conflicts: None known.

Sources

Sources are labeled by kind, with what this fact check takes from each, so readers can check the evidence independently.

  1. Government Washington Secretary of State. 2026 voters' pamphlet, Initiative Measure IP26-645, statements for and against

    The official pamphlet page with both campaigns' statements, each written by the campaign's own committee.

    Reliability: The Secretary of State publishes the statements as submitted; the Yes statement was written by a committee led by Sen. Chris Gildon.

    • The Yes statement says voters rejected an income tax ten times in the last 90 years and gives its explanation of why.

      What the source says
      Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times because they knew it would threaten economic growth
      Argument for, first section · Yes on I-645 committee (voters' pamphlet statement)
  2. Government Washington Secretary of State. Income Tax Ballot Measures (archived October 13, 2026)

    The Elections Division's table of every statewide income-tax ballot measure, with descriptions and Yes and No shares. The live page now returns an error.

    Reliability: Official election records. The page groups personal, corporate and gross-income taxes together under 'income tax'.

    • Voters were asked 11 times to adopt a personal or corporate income tax; only the 1932 measure passed, and the court threw it out 5-4 in 1933.

      What the source says
      Washington voters have been asked on 11 separate occasions to adopt a state personal income tax or corporate income tax. Only the first vote, in 1932, was successful
      Introduction

    • Several defeats were constitutional amendments to allow a graduated income tax, such as 1938's SJR 5.

      What the source says
      providing that nothing contained in said section shall be construed to prevent the enactment of a graduated net income tax law.
      Table, 1938, Senate Joint Resolution 5

    • Qualifies: The 1944 measure was a 3% gross-income tax tied to pension payments, not a net income tax.

      What the source says
      providing for the levy and collection of a three per cent tax on gross income
      Table, 1944, Initiative to the People 158

    • Qualifies: The 1975 measure would have taxed only corporations.

      What the source says
      Shall corporations pay a 12% excise tax measured by income so that special school levies may be reduced or eliminated?
      Table, 1975, Initiative to the People 314

    • Qualifies: The 1982 measure would also have taxed only corporations.

      What the source says
      Shall corporate franchise taxes, measured by net income, replace sales taxes on food and state corporate business and occupation taxes?
      Table, 1982, Initiative to the People 435
  3. Government Washington Secretary of State. November 2, 2010 General Election Results: Initiative Measure 1098

    Certified statewide results for the 2010 high-earner income tax initiative.

    Reliability: Certified official results.

    • Initiative 1098 lost with 64.15% voting no (1,616,273 to 903,319).

      What the source says
      Concerning establishing a state income tax and reducing other taxes.…64.15%
      Results table
  4. Government Washington Secretary of State. November 5, 2024 General Election Results: Initiative Measure No. 2109

    Certified statewide results for the 2024 initiative to repeal the capital gains tax.

    Reliability: Certified official results.

    • Qualifies: Initiative 2109 lost with 64.11% voting no (2,437,419 to 1,364,510), so the capital gains tax stayed.

      What the source says
      Initiative Measure No. 2109…64.11%
      Results table
  5. Government Washington Attorney General. Ballot Title and Explanatory Statement for Initiative No. 2109 (July 23, 2024)

    The Attorney General's official ballot title and plain-language explanation of the 2024 capital gains repeal initiative.

    Reliability: Required by state law for every statewide measure; the Attorney General's office also defended the capital gains tax in court.

    • Qualifies: A Yes vote on I-2109 would have repealed the capital gains tax, so the No vote kept it.

      What the source says
      If approved, this measure would repeal the capital gains tax law, and Washington State would no longer impose taxes on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets.
      Explanatory statement, p. 3
  6. News report KUOW (Seattle's NPR station). Washington state voters have rejected income taxes 10 times. Is this year different?

    A January 29, 2026 news report by Scott Greenstone on the history of income-tax votes, written as the Legislature took up the millionaires tax.

    Reliability: A public radio newsroom with no role in the I-645 campaigns; published before the tax passed.

    • Independent reporting gives the same count of ten rejections in 90 years.

      What the source says
      Washingtonians have rejected income taxes 10 times in the last 90 years.
      Story summary and opening

    • Qualifies: KUOW notes that two of the failed efforts were corporate taxes.

      What the source says
      Corporate tax efforts in 1975 and 1982 also failed.
      Story body
  7. FactHub dataset Initiative 645: the campaigns' claims in their own words
    • Over the last 90 years, Washingtonians have rejected an income tax ten times because they knew it would threaten economic growth, discourage investment, and reach beyond the people originally targeted.
      Committee for the argument for Initiative 645 (Sen. Chris Gildon and five co-authors), Authors of the official voters' pamphlet argument for I-645, · In the dataset

Update history

  1. Updated the ownership disclosure.
  2. Cited the Yes statement from FactHub's dataset of the campaigns' voters' pamphlet statements.
  3. Initial version.

Cited by

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this article each cites.

  • Briefing wa-i-645 — version 6 (published) cites version 3
  • Briefing wa-i-645 — version 4 (published) cites version 3

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