Washington’s top-two primary is Tuesday, and Democrats are hoping voters reward them with another two years of higher taxes, bigger government, and the same tired excuses. Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to remind voters they have another option.

Voters will narrow the field for all 10 congressional seats, half the state Senate, every House seat, and three Supreme Court races. But let’s be honest—the real drama is in a couple of races that could actually shake up the political landscape.

As Shift WA has reported, the biggest prize is Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, where Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is once again trying to convince voters she’s a moderate despite a voting record that keeps landing her on Team Democrat when it matters most. Standing in her way is Senate Republican Leader John Braun, arguably the strongest Republican challenger she’s faced and armed with President Trump’s endorsement. The district voted for Trump in 2024, making Perez one of the GOP’s top pickup opportunities.

Over in Central Washington’s 4th District, Republicans are battling to replace retiring Rep. Dan Newhouse. Trump has endorsed Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney, while former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler is also in the hunt after earning Trump’s backing in a previous race. The district is safely Republican, so the primary will likely decide who heads to Congress.

Back in Olympia, Democrats are defending their roughly 60% majorities in both legislative chambers—the same majorities responsible for the spending spree, tax hikes, and policy experiments Washington families have endured in recent years.

And, as Shift WA readers know, three Supreme Court seats are also on the ballot. While the court’s liberal majority isn’t likely to change this year, these races could shape one of Washington’s biggest political fights for years to come. Democrats’ brand-new income tax is expected to end up before the justices, who may be asked to decide whether to toss out nearly a century of precedent declaring income to be property under the state constitution. After voters rejected an income tax more than a dozen times, Democrats finally passed one anyway. Now they’ll be counting on the courts to do what the ballot box never would.

Ballots are already pouring in, and results will begin trickling out after 8 p.m. Tuesday night. By then, we’ll have a much better idea whether voters are ready to send Olympia—and Washington’s congressional delegation—a message or simply sign up for more of the same. Read more at the AP.

Washington Democrats have perfected one annual tradition: declare an emergency, hold a press conference, ask for federal help—and then act surprised when the forests burn again next year.

This week’s disaster is devastating. More than 60,000 people have been forced to evacuate around Spokane, hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed, and more than 250,000 acres are burning across the state. Gov. Bob Ferguson has declared a statewide emergency and requested FEMA assistance.

But here’s the question Olympia never wants to answer: after decades of one-party control, why does Washington keep finding itself in the same position every fire season?

For years, Democrats have preferred talking about climate change over talking about forest management. Prescribed burns get bogged down in bureaucracy. Forest thinning moves at a glacial pace. Environmental activists fight active management projects, and Democrat politicians are often more interested in keeping those activists happy than reducing the fuel loads that turn ordinary fires into catastrophic infernos.

No one can prevent lightning strikes, high winds, or drought. But government can reduce the amount of combustible fuel waiting to explode when those conditions arrive. That’s what proactive forest management is supposed to accomplish.

Instead, Democrats’ response has become predictable: neglect the forests, watch another fire season spiral out of control, declare an emergency, ask taxpayers for billions in recovery costs, and promise to do better next time.

Wash. Rinse. Burn. Repeat.

The firefighters risking their lives deserve enormous credit. The families who have lost homes deserve help. But the politicians who have overseen decades of failed forest management deserve something else entirely: accountability. Read more at Reuters.

Seattle has spent years telling itself it’s the economic engine of Washington. A new study suggests the engine might need a little more maintenance.

A survey from commerce experts Build Your Store ranked the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma metro area just 8th out of 11 Washington metro areas for business survival, with only 66.43% of new businesses making it through their first five years.

For a region with nearly 98,000 establishments, a massive workforce, and one of the state’s largest customer bases, that’s a disappointing showing.

Build Your Store CEO Lior Pozin noted that Seattle still has advantages—but warned that high operating costs, intense competition, and the cost of doing business can make survival harder. Translation: having a lot of businesses doesn’t help if the environment keeps making it harder for them to stay open.

Seattle’s leaders have spent years stacking new costs on employers, including the JumpStart payroll tax and increasingly complicated business taxes. Meanwhile, neighboring Bellevue has benefited as businesses look for a friendlier place to operate.

The results are becoming harder to ignore. Downtown Seattle has lost roughly 30,000 jobs, while office values have plunged since the JumpStart tax took effect.

Meanwhile, smaller communities are proving that business success doesn’t require a mountain of taxes and regulations. Wenatchee-East Wenatchee ranked first in the state for early business survival, followed by Walla Walla.

Turns out businesses don’t just need customers—they need a place where they can actually afford to exist. Read more at Seattle Red.

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