Speaking of donors to Let’s Go Washington
The campaigns to defeat Heywood’s initiatives are being flooded with donations from local grassroots ($1 - $999) donors.
The No on 645 campaign reports it has raised more than $20,000 from more than 498 small grassroots donors in just 10 weeks.
The No Hate in WA State (No on I-001, I-638) campaign reports it’s raised more than $250,000 from nearly 2,598 grassroots donors since January.
In comparison, Let’s Go Washington has 997 cash contributions under $1,000, totaling $151,326 for all three initiatives combined, according to PDC records. The majority of its money comes from … well, see more below.
More Let’s Go Washington donors feeling the heat
Multiple wholesale buyers announced a boycott after the owners of E9 brewery contributed to Let's Go Washington's 3 MAGA initiatives on the November ballot. E9’s owners claimed they had no idea their money to Let’s Go Washington would support anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives (001 and 638), ignoring extensive media coverage. Subsequently they announced donations to two Tacoma LGBTQ+ groups.
Now Mark Pahlow, owner of Archie McPhee's, a Seattle-based novelty store, is also claiming ignorance. After he gave $10,000 to Let’s Go Washington in July, customers cried foul on Reddit. On Saturday, Pahlow issued an apology statement saying he had asked for a refund from Brian Heywood and Let’s Go Washington, and moved his donation of $10,000 to No Hate in WA State, the opposition coalition.
Important note: Both E9 and Archie McPhee's owners claim they were supporting just I-645. But Let’s Go Washington’s I-645 will hurt almost all small businesses owners, likely including E9 and Archie McPhees, by effectively raising B&O taxes. Washington’s tax on billionaires and mega-millionaires funds massive tax cuts for small businesses. If I-645 passes, businesses with gross receipts under $250,000 will once again owe B&O Taxes, and those businesses with gross receipts up to $600,000 will lose their small business tax credit.
Some of Brian Heywood’s other noteworthy sidekicks in 2026 include:
$250,000 from Republican nonagenarian Lawrence “Pat” Hughes who writes checks from his 7-bedroom, $22 million palace in Medina. Hughes was warned by the PDC in 2024 for using his dead wife’s name to conceal his identity on contributions to Let’s Go Washington and Republican candidates.
$100,000 from now-Coloradan wealth manager, Phil Schlaepfer who famously gave $1 million to Trump the day after the then ex-president was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
$500,000 total from Republican donors and trucking mega-millionaires Steve, Larry, and Virginia Gordon this year. Steve Gordon alone gave $650,000 in the last quarter of 2025, for a total of $1,150,000 to Let’s Go Washington in the last year from the Gordons.
Together, through their PAC Let’s Go Washington, they are using the MAGA playbook to distract voters from the real problems caused by MAGA politicians and CEOs, like exorbitant groceries, escalating rents, and disappearing health care.