Three statewide ballot initiatives that will face Olympia and Tumwater voters in November got their formal campaign launch Saturday, Aug. 8, at a Let's Go Washington rally in Olympia featuring local speakers on each measure.

Frances Staudtl, a 17-year-old Tumwater High School senior, headlined the event as the public face of Initiative 638, which would ban transgender girls from competing in girls' middle and high school sports.

Gina Carlson, president of Olympia Master Builders, spoke for Initiative 645, which would repeal the state's new income tax on high earners. And Travis Reep, a North Thurston School District fifth-grade teacher and father of four, backed Initiative 001, which would restore parental-rights language the Legislature rewrote last year.

All three measures qualified for the Nov. 3 ballot. They are backed by Let's Go Washington, the conservative initiative group founded by Redmond hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, which has spent more than $22 million on Washington ballot measures since 2023.

The local face of I-638

Staudtl made national headlines after she refused to play in a girls' JV basketball game on Feb. 6, 2025, against a school with a transgender player. She was 15. As she walked past the opposing team's bench, she called the transgender student "a man."

The Tumwater School District and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association investigated her for harassment and bullying. She was not found to have violated policy.

At Saturday's kickoff, Staudtl pushed back against opponents' claims that I-638 would require invasive physical exams for girls to play sports.

"As a 17-year-old female my entire life, I can confidently say my doctor has known I'm a female since the day my mom first brought me into the doctor's office. There has never been a genital exam required for me to participate in a school sport, ever," she told the crowd, according to a Center Square report.

I-638 qualified with more than 440,000 signatures, far exceeding the roughly 300,000 required. The WIAA has allowed transgender students to compete in line with their gender identity since 2007. WIAA assistant executive director Justin Kesterson told The 19th in July that the organization is aware of about 10 out transgender student-athletes among more than 200,000 who compete statewide.

The Washington Education Association contends the initiative would force tens of thousands of girls to undergo medically unnecessary exams to play school sports. Let's Go Washington spokesperson Hallie Herzberg has said the measure builds on an existing WIAA sports-physical requirement and that concerns about invasive exams are "not the reality of the initiative at all."

Parental rights and income tax

Reep told the rally that parents, not educators, are the primary caregivers. He said he disagrees with the Washington Education Association's position on keeping parents out of classroom decisions, adding that Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and the WEA "say they know better than you know your own children."

I-001 would repeal changes Democrats made to the original I-2081 parental-rights law through House Bill 1296, signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson in May 2025. A key provision removed by HB 1296 was parental access to student medical records.

Carlson spoke against the state's 9.9% income tax on individual or combined household income above $1 million, enacted through Senate Bill 6346, which Ferguson signed March 30. I-645 would repeal that tax. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese ruled Friday, Aug. 7, that the ballot disclosure statement will tell voters the measure "would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education (including universities and community colleges), and human services (primarily healthcare)."

The WEA says I-645 would create a $13 billion hole in the state budget, nearly half of which directly funds schools.

Opposition and what's next

Opposition coalitions have formed against the measures. Washington Families for Freedom is fighting both I-638 and I-001, while a separate group called No Hate in WA State is the primary organization opposing I-638.

Olympia and Tumwater voters will decide all three measures on Tuesday, Nov. 3.