Washington I-638 campaign money by side, donor and measure (2025-26)

What this dataset measures

Built to check who pays for each side of I-638, including the No pamphlet's statement that the measure is "bankrolled by an ultra-conservative mega-donor." Both main committees work on more than one measure, so the dataset separates money a committee raised (shared across its measures) from spending its own reports assign to I-638. All contributions and expenditures of the two committees are taken whole from PDC open data; nothing is sampled. The 2025 election year is included because the I-638 signature drive ran in 2025 and the signatures were filed in January 2026.

Geography

Washington State

Unit of observation

Donor per committee (contributions); committee and election year (spending allocated to I-638); committee (registered I-638 committees).

Update cadence

One-time snapshot of PDC data downloaded 2026-10-23 (latest receipts October 23, 2026). Committees keep filing until after the November 3, 2026 election; rerun the build script for later totals.

Curator

FactHub Research Team

Curated data tables

These related tables form this versioned dataset release. Each table has its own downloadable file and field definitions.

Contributions by donor and committee

Each organization giving $5,000 or more and each individual giving $25,000 or more to Let's Go Washington or No Hate in WA State in the 2025 and 2026 election years, plus one aggregate row per donor type and location for smaller donors.

Unit of observation: Donor per committee

View this table

i638_donors.csv text/csv · 14.7 KB (15,075 bytes)

13 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
filer_id	string	PDC filer ID of the receiving committee.	—	observed
committee	string	Committee name as registered.	—	observed
side	string	Yes or No on I-638.	—	derived
donor	string	Contributor name as reported (Brian Heywood's is normalized from "HEYWOOD BRIAN"), or an aggregate label.	—	observed
donor_type	string	FactHub donor type (see limitations).	—	derived
donor_location	string	Washington, Outside Washington, or Not reported (unitemized gifts).	—	derived
cash	number	Cash contributions.	US dollars	observed
in_kind	number	In-kind contributions at the committee's reported value.	US dollars	observed
total	number	Cash plus in-kind.	US dollars	derived
share_of_committee	number	Share of the committee's 2025-26 receipts.	fraction (0-1)	derived
election_year_2025	number	Part of total reported under the 2025 election year.	US dollars	observed
election_year_2026	number	Part of total reported under the 2026 election year.	US dollars	observed
receipts	integer	Number of contribution records.	—	observed

Money raised by committee and donor type

Totals and each type's share of the committee's 2025-26 receipts.

Unit of observation: Committee and donor type

View this table

i638_raised_by_donor_type.csv text/csv · 1.4 KB (1,472 bytes)

6 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
filer_id	string	PDC filer ID.	—	observed
committee	string	Committee name.	—	observed
side	string	Yes or No.	—	derived
donor_type	string	Donor type.	—	derived
total	number	Total of this type.	US dollars	derived
share_of_committee	number	Share of committee receipts.	fraction (0-1)	derived

Money raised by committee and donor location

Totals and shares from Washington addresses, out-of-state addresses, and unitemized gifts.

Unit of observation: Committee and donor location

View this table

i638_raised_by_location.csv text/csv · 542 bytes

6 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
filer_id	string	PDC filer ID.	—	observed
committee	string	Committee name.	—	observed
side	string	Yes or No.	—	derived
donor_location	string	Washington, Outside Washington, or Not reported.	—	derived
total	number	Total from this location.	US dollars	derived
share_of_committee	number	Share of committee receipts.	fraction (0-1)	derived

Spending assigned to I-638 from each committee's own descriptions

Each committee's itemized expenditures, split by the measure numbers named in each purpose description.

Unit of observation: Committee and election year (2025, 2026, or both)

View this table

i638_spending_allocation.csv text/csv · 1.2 KB (1,210 bytes)

14 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
filer_id	string	PDC filer ID.	—	observed
committee	string	Committee name.	—	observed
side	string	Yes or No.	—	derived
measures	string	Measures the committee is registered on.	—	observed
election_years	string	2025, 2026, or 2025-2026.	—	observed
expenditures_total	number	All itemized expenditures in the period.	US dollars	observed
described_i638_only	number	Items whose description names I-638 and no other 2026 measure.	US dollars	derived
i638_share_of_shared_items	number	I-638's equal share of items naming I-638 and other measures.	US dollars	derived
described_i638_total	number	Spending the committee's own descriptions tie to I-638.	US dollars	derived
other_measures	number	Spending tied to other measures, including their shares of shared items.	US dollars	derived
not_allocated	number	Items naming no measure (staff, legal, overhead and similar).	US dollars	derived
i638_with_prorated_overhead	number	described_i638_total plus I-638's proportional share of not_allocated.	US dollars	estimated
i638_items	integer	Number of items naming I-638.	—	derived
explicit_estimate_minus_equal_split	number	Where a shared item states its own I-638 figure, that figure minus the equal split, summed (a check on the method).	US dollars	derived

Committees registered on I-638

Every committee in the PDC 2026 summary whose ballot measures include I-638.

Unit of observation: Committee

View this table

i638_committees.csv text/csv · 1.9 KB (1,993 bytes)

8 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value type
filer_id	string	PDC filer ID.	—	observed
committee	string	Committee name.	—	observed
position	string	for or against.	—	observed
measures	string	Ballot measures as registered.	—	observed
measure_count	integer	Number of measures listed.	—	derived
contributions_2026	number	PDC 2026 contributions total (all measures).	US dollars	observed
expenditures_2026	number	PDC 2026 expenditures total (all measures).	US dollars	observed
summary_updated	string	Date the PDC summary row was last updated.	—	observed

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

• i638_campaign_finance.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 12.8 KB (13,087 bytes)

  Node.js script that downloads the PDC data from data.wa.gov and writes every table.

• i638_campaign_finance_dataset_parts.json Documentation · application/json · 36.9 KB (37,796 bytes)

  The dataset's tables, field definitions, saved analyses, sources, events and limitations as JSON, as stored in version 1 (figures through October 21, 2026). Later versions' figures are in the CSV tables and saved analyses of the version you are viewing.

• indorg.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 1.8 KB (1,815 bytes)

  Node.js script that computes the individuals-vs-organizations analysis from the same raw PDC contribution downloads.

Saved analyses

Sources

1. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Contributions to Candidates and Political Committees (data.wa.gov kv7h-kjye) Every itemized contribution to Let's Go Washington (HEYWL--535) and No Hate in WA State (FREEW--138), 2025 and 2026 election years

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record (RCW 29B); Washington open data. Public disclosure data; redistributed in aggregate with attribution

   Reliability: Government. Filed by the committees themselves under Washington's campaign disclosure law and published by the PDC. Committees can amend reports, and in-kind values are the committees' own estimates.

2. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Expenditures by Candidates and Political Committees (data.wa.gov tijg-9zyp) Each committee's itemized expenditures and their stated purposes, used to assign spending to I-638

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record (RCW 29B); Washington open data. Public disclosure data; redistributed in aggregate with attribution

   Reliability: Government. Purpose descriptions are written by the filing committee. The PDC does not verify how a committee splits shared costs between measures.

3. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Campaign Finance Summary (data.wa.gov 3h9x-7bvm) The list of committees registered for or against I-638, the measures each covers, and their 2026 totals

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record (RCW 29B); Washington open data. Public disclosure data; redistributed with attribution

   Reliability: Government. Totals are computed by the PDC from committee filings and updated as reports arrive.

4. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Loans to Candidates and Political Committees (data.wa.gov d2ig-r3q4) Brian Heywood's loans to Let's Go Washington

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record (RCW 29B); Washington open data. Public disclosure data; redistributed with attribution

   Reliability: Government. Loans are reported by the borrowing committee, with the lender's name.

5. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Independent Campaign Expenditures and Electioneering Communications (data.wa.gov 67cp-h962) Independent expenditures naming I-638 (for the size check in the limitations)

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record (RCW 29B); Washington open data. Public disclosure data; redistributed with attribution

   Reliability: Government. Reported by the sponsors of the advertising; the portion attributed to each measure is the sponsor's own estimate.

6. Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Enforcement case 192919, Let's Go Washington (Sponsored by Brian Heywood) Outcome of the 2026 complaint about unreported in-kind contributions from a commentator (also in data.wa.gov a4ma-dq6s)

   Retrieved October 23, 2026. Public record. Public government record; short quotation

   Reliability: Government. The PDC's own case record, written by its staff. The complaint was filed on behalf of Washingtonians for Ethical Government.

Limitations and reproducibility

Fully reproducible from public data: The included script i638_campaign_finance.js queries data.wa.gov (PDC datasets kv7h-kjye contributions, tijg-9zyp expenditures, 3h9x-7bvm summary and d2ig-r3q4 loans) and writes every table. Donor-type labels for organizations are a fixed list in the script. Totals will differ if run later because committees keep filing and amending reports.

• Snapshot: the latest receipts in the data are dated October 23, 2026. No Hate in WA State reported $1.4 million from two donors between September 22 and October 21 alone, and $95,000 more on October 22-23. Itemized expenditures in the data run through October 12; by then it had spent $2.51 million of the $4.44 million it has raised, so its I-638 spending will grow before November 3.
• Both main committees work on more than one measure. Contributions are not earmarked by measure, so a donor's money cannot be traced to I-638. Let's Go Washington backs IL26-001 (parental rights), IL26-638 and IP26-645 (income-tax repeal); No Hate in WA State opposes IL26-001 and IL26-638.
• Spending is assigned to I-638 only from the measure numbers in each expenditure's own purpose description, split equally across the measures it names. Some descriptions give their own estimates; for Let's Go Washington they differ from an equal split by $32,522 in total. Several No Hate descriptions list a dollar figure per measure equal to the whole item; the equal split is used. Spending that names no measure (staff, legal, overhead) is shown separately and, in one column, prorated.
• Donor type is FactHub's classification of each organization by name. Inatai Foundation describes itself as a 501(c)(4) philanthropy; it is grouped with foundations. Gender Justice League, the ACLU of Washington, the Human Rights Campaign, Lavender Rights Project, Pro-Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates and Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky are grouped as civil-liberties, LGBTQ and reproductive-rights groups. SEIU Washington State Council is grouped with labor unions.
• Donor location is the state in the contributor's reported address. National organizations can report a Washington address (SEIU Initiative Fund), and the location of the money behind an organization (for example Washington Rising Inc of Franklin, Tennessee) is not disclosed in these records.
• Individuals who gave less than $25,000 to a committee, and organizations under $5,000, are aggregated by type and location rather than named. No addresses are published.
• Brian Heywood's loans to Let's Go Washington ($4.66 million, made in 2023-24 and carried forward) are not contributions and are excluded; LGW reported no new loans in 2025 or 2026.
• Other committees on I-638 (county parties, Defend Washington, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Greater Washington, Seattle Indivisible and others) are listed with their 2026 totals but not itemized. All of them cover several measures, and some gave to No Hate in WA State, so their totals overlap.
• Independent expenditures and electioneering communications on I-638 reported to the PDC totaled about $16,400 (portion attributed to I-638) and are not included in the committee totals.