(The Center Square) - With a dozen candidates already in the race for five out of nine positions on the bench, the 2026 Washington Supreme Court election could be among the most consequential in years.
The race comes at a pivotal moment in state history, as the court might rule on the constitutionality of a new 9.9% state income tax on annual household earnings over $1 million in the next year or so. Voters rejected income taxes 10 times in the last century, and the high court has struck them down three times.
Emails uncovered by The Center Square between the state Office of the Attorney General and lawmakers frame the legislation as a way to force the court to reconsider a 1933 ruling that outlawed income taxes.
In recent years, the justices have weighed in on other cases with major taxpayer impacts, upholding a capital gains tax that opponents argued was essentially an income tax; striking down initiatives to cap automobile tab fees at $30; and declaring the state's felony drug possession statute unconstitutional. The latter costs taxpayers millions of dollars to resentence defendants in cases going back to 1971.