Northwest Progressive Institute

691 words about Cheesecake. 434 words about rape.

Four competitive all-Democratic legislative races are requiring King and Snohomish voters to weigh more than party affiliation From the eastern shores of Lake Washington to south Seattle and the King-Snohomish county line, eight Democratic general election candidates are making competing cases for…

When Anthropic was created, its co-founders pledged to commit 80% of their personal equity holdings in the company to philanthropic causes. As they prepare to take the company public, they appear to be walking back that pledge.

Obama knew that comment would provoke such a reaction

Trump regime expands its new eleventh hour voter suppression campaign to Washington, following its debut in California With voting already underway, Trump’s Department of Justice is demanding that Washington set aside hundreds of voters’ ballots based on allegations Secretary of State Steve Hobbs…

Washington voters are likely to uphold the state’s million dollar earners tax next month, polling from NO on 645 and NPI suggests New polling affirms that a majority of Washington voters are poised to reject Initiative 645, putting Brian Heywood’s repeal campaign at risk of delivering a historic…

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeats Flávio Bolsonaro for a fourth term as President of Brazil in bitterly contested runoff The… https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/10/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva-defeats-flavio-bolsonaro-for-a-fourth-term-as-president-of-brazil-in-bitterly-contested-runoff.html

Washington election officials and community groups are mobilizing to protect the vote as Trump regime tries to suppress it More than 770,000 Washingtonians have already returned their ballots as state election officials and a growing network of community organizations prepare for misinformation,…

Blanche is such a pathetic minion

Finally, some real journalism

British Columbia’s progressive government defeated in snap provincial election as Conservatives projected to win majority Prem… https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/10/british-columbias-progressive-government-defeated-in-snap-provincial-election-as-conservatives-projected-to-win-majority.html

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President Barack Obama rallies with Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown in Ohio President Obama is in Cleveland, Ohio, for a get-out-the-vote rally with the Democratic nominees for governor and U.S. Senate of the Buckeye State.

Meet the 2026 candidates for the Washington Supreme Court Position #4: Ian Birk Campaigning on judicial independence, equal access to justice, and fairness, the appellate judge says his experience representing regular Washingtonians would bring a valuable perspective to the state Supreme Court and…

A helpfully clear exchange here Hasan: "So your argument is that [Minnesota ICE protesters] should stay at home because immigration is a salient issue for Donald Trump. Opposing ICE is only going to help Trump. Wait until we win the election in 2028." Yglesias: "Yes that is what I would have said"

You can see their playbook heading into 2028 and beyond. Oligarchs never should have this much control over media in a healthy democracy. It will be up to Democrats to respond w/ beyond just poll tested TPs on "affordability" & policy points. Reconstruction 3.0 must include accountability.

‘New data shows that this year, the average cost of a family health plan crossed $28,000, rising by 5%. The share coming out of employees’ paychecks shot up even faster—to $7,471, an increase of 9% from 2025.’ www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Wow! Striking. If you donate to NPI, 0% of your donation goes to ads or consultants. 100% goes to building *permanent* progressive political infrastructure, including for research polling, legislative advocacy, and storytelling through independent media publications that have their own audience.

Reagan Dunn thinks Brian Heywood’s measure to repeal WA’s million dollar earners tax will fail, and his hunch is justified The Republican councilmember sees a narrow defeat looming for Initiative 645 and blames Microsoft’s neutrality for what he suspects will be an agonizing loss for the right…

"The sale was finalized the same day that advance voting started in Kansas, where Marshall faces a tough reelection in which is vacation house has been a talking point..." www.cjonline.com/story/news/p...

Medicaid cuts haunt Republicans in battleground states "Democrats’ confidence in their health care message is showing up on the airwaves and the debate stage," Politico reports.

They’re tied again in WA-03: NPI’s autumn Civic Heartbeat polling finds Marie Gluesenkamp Perez at 45%, John Braun at 44% NPI’s newest survey of Washington's 3rd Congressional District finds the Democratic incumbent and her Republican challenger neck and neck once more despite an avalanche of ad…

This wasn't "an experimental project," it was willful public opinion fraud, and the perpetrators need to be held responsible. This behavior is completely unacceptable.

Good analysis. Maintaining a con over the long haul is tough. Trump + his minions have long marveled at how gullible and exploitable people are, and there are still many Americans who are bought in… but there are also many who've fled. Trump's 2024 electoral coalition is long gone; it won't return.

Exactly. The double standard is just incredible, and there always is one now.

Meet the 2026 candidates for the Washington Supreme Court Position #4: Sean O’Donnell The King County Superior Court Judge is campaigning on a promise to “fight for impartiality on the court,” rebutting claims from his rival that he is affiliated with the Republicans while working to secure a…

NPI's principal web hosting provider is on top of this, happily. Lots of patching happening right now...

The Urbanist versus The Stranger: How their 2026 MLKC area general election endorsements compare The two publications largely agree where their endorsements overlap, but they are split on key legislative contests in the 32nd and 43rd districts. Our side-by-side comparison shows where their…

First Washington State ballot return statistics of 2026 general election show slight uptick in early voting compared to 2022 More than 337,000 Washington voters have already returned their ballots, putting early participation ahead of the last two midterms, with Jefferson County leading and King…

Liar, liar; pants on fire

They mean to intimidate us, and we will not let them.

Appalling

Congratulations!

"Cancel culture" at its finest. Republican logic: Censorship is fine if right wingers are doing it. Book bans? Sure, yep! Reconfiguring platform algorithms to bury progressive content? Absolutely! Pressuring media executives to end shows like Colbert's? Of course! It goes on and on and on...

Trump’s team is in chaos as midterms enter final stretch "Staff upheaval is expected as officials brace for a blame game over Republican performance, with some distancing themselves from what they see as a fading political movement," The Los Angeles Times reports

Documentary Review: “Freefall” traces Boeing’s deadly failures to its arrogant, complacent executive suite Rory Kennedy’s gripping film follows… https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/10/documentary-review-freefall-traces-boeings-deadly-failures-to-its-arrogant-complacent-executive-suite.html

And this comes after he tried to save Orban. Which didn't work.

Implementation of Brian Heywood’s 645 would indeed cut funding for K-12 schools, higher education and healthcare Washington’s four-year budget framework requires lawmakers to plan for future tax collections, and repealing an enacted revenue source would have real, devastating consequences for…

Trump approval hits record low, handing Democrats a clear midterm edge "The president’s approval is at 33 percent, with 66 percent disapproving and just over half saying they disapprove strongly. Meanwhile, midterm support for Democrats is rising," The Washington Post reports.

"It is better to ask forgiveness than permission" - bad Meta maxim

Excellent response to a demeaning, hostile question

In Washington’s Cascadia Advocate, Women Donors Action Board Chair Sharon Chen makes the case against Initiative 645, which seeks to repeal the state’s new tax on annual incomes above a million dollars. www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/...

Less than one half of a Scaramucci. Also, the head of lettuce wins!

As a wealthy Washingtonian, I support our million dollar earners tax and will be voting NO on Initiative 645 In this guest essay, Sharon… https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/10/as-a-wealthy-washingtonian-i-support-our-million-dollar-earners-tax-and-will-be-voting-no-on-initiative-645.html

Imagine uncritically printing Tesla's press release like this after almost 2 decades of Elon promising outlandish things and never delivering. This car will never do any of these things.

Voting rights groups are suing Texas after the state failed to process more than 500,000 voter registration applications submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s web portal.

Oops. Little problem for Republicans: what’s driving the expanding home insurance crisis is climate change creating uninsurable risks, and their big fossil fuel donors forbid them to talk about that.

Wealthy hedge fund mogul Brian Heywood need only look in the mirror if he wants to know who made him “toxic” As he struggles to attract… https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/10/wealthy-hedge-fund-mogul-brian-heywood-need-only-look-in-the-mirror-if-he-wants-to-know-who-made-him-toxic.html

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings urges Washington voters to keep million dollar earners tax in NO on 645’s newest television spot The beloved quiz show host is putting voters’ knowledge to the test in a new ad highlighting 645’s tax giveaway to the wealthy and the loss of funding it would cause to the…

We need strong AI regulations *now.* Not five years from now.