Landon Halverson

Lifelong Washingtonian. Fighting to keep the Puget Sound safe, affordable, and prosperous.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@AnthonyMixerWA I don’t think it strengthens the argument or advances anything positive to create AI-generated images of members crying. I was disappointed by Rep. Simmon’s lack of decorum today, as well as her comments about staff, but AI-generated images that mock a member aren’t helpful.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@Huckleberr0abw @seattletimes 2018 vs 2024. The land didn’t magically appear, obviously, but it’s a pretty notable change.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@seattletimes I’ve been going on dates in First Hill, and even with light rail trains every 4 minutes, they are absolutely packed/standing room only at peak times. Office traffic is down, but overall foot traffic definitely feels up relative to ~2017, when I was downtown a few days per week.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@Knight__dawg @StatisticUrban Religious, center-right voters who oppose it on a personal level, but who hold generally libertarian views about the size/role of govt. I know several people who fit in this category.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@StatisticUrban Portland has a lot of the same issues with open drug abuse, high taxes and rents, increasing commercial vacancy rates, etc without the human capital of Seattle or pro-business policies of Boise/ID. There are simply few good reasons to move to Portland in 2026.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@Josh_Pactor I like them now in my adult life, but growing up, they were truly one of my least favorite things. I remember getting home from school and smelling my polish mother’s cabbage rolls from the driveway- I never looked forward to dinner those days, lol.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

A 2-week, all expenses paid trip to Seattle, but you have to stay in one of the 5 zones. Which are you picking and why?

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@KJVPopulist The County that gave Sarah Palin her start too.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

Two things can be true: taxes with a smaller base of payers are inherently less stable than broad-based taxes, and b) over the years, we can still establish a pretty reliable average (that may stabilize as the tax ages) to be used for budgeting purposes.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

Sandeep has a great analysis here, just a couple things to add:

- There was an influx of transactions in ‘23, followed by a drop in ‘24. The average across both years was ~$600m, while budget writers estimated the tax would raise ~$500m per year.

[Sandeep Kaushik @skaushik100]

I've seen the table @jesseproudman posted below posted by a number of different accounts in the last 24 hours. The problem with this claim -- that capital gains and estate tax receipts have tanked in WA, presumably because of wealth flight - is that IT IS INCORRECT.

Capital gains and estate tax receipts did indeed decline between 2023 and 2024. But then - very inconveniently for Millionaires Tax opponents - they JUMPED BACK UP A LOT in 2025.

The most up-to-date Dept. of Revenue table, which includes the 2025 numbers (unlike the out-of-date table, which only shows tax receipts through 2024), shows that capital gains tax revenues in WA ballooned from $356M in 2024 to $552M. Estate tax revenues similarly jumped from from $435M to $725M.

IOW, the tax receipts data DOES NOT SUPPORT THE CLAIM that proceeds from these taxes are in permanent (or even temporary) decline.

More broadly, any claim that a one year drop in these tax receipts is a meaningful indicator of wealth flight is - and I believe this is the technical term - BULLSHIT. It would be just as silly for me to claim that the jump from '24 to '25 in these receipts is proof that rich people are flooding into WA because they love paying these taxes.

What we're really seeing in this data is that taxes like these that are levied on relatively small base of very wealthy people tend to be volatile, i.e. they bounce around from year to year. In '24 they dropped, in '25 they zoomed back up. I realize that's not nearly as exciting a story as the story that opponents are trying to tell. But at least it has the virtue of being true.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

Looking at the “lifetime” of the tax, it raised an average of $585m each year between ‘23 and ‘25. This, again, is roughly in line with what budget writers estimated, if not a little bit better.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

What are folks thinking about the TX-35 runoff(s)? On the GOP side, it seems like it’s going to be tight. On the dem side, Galindo appears to be heading towards a loss, but not by nearly enough, in my opinion, given her recent statements.

#texas #texasrunoffs #paxton #txpol

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@jamandabop @IsthmusPol Or better yet, see if a clipped version already exists in a publicly published map. I know one exists for Washington, because I use it all the time lol.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@Mark20178785 @JacobRubashkin @InsideElections Yeah, the GOP candidate, John Braun, is the minority leader of the state senate. He’s a bright guy, and not particularly abrasive, so I think it’s fair to say he’s a strong pick, much stronger than Jim Walsh, Joe Kent 3.0, or others who were discussed.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

I agree with Rep. Leavitt here. The argument being made is basically that, once a person hits a certain level of influence, their political speech carries an inherent monetary value that must be reported. Who is to decide the level of influence cutoff/respective monetary value?

[mari leavitt @RepLeavitt]

Catching up on this complaint filed. While I'm not speaking to or weighing in on the base for concern of Let's Go and their alleged violations, the accusations regarding Brandi Kruse's role in it appear to be nonsense based on current PDC rules or rulings. Folks should not add this senseless distraction and instead focus on battling it out at the ballot box, IMHO. Seems like a case of be careful what you wish for.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

The World Cup should be exciting for local businesses, as it should absolutely help them generate revenue, but it will also create overwhelming situations that they are not prepared to deal with. Public restrooms like these help mitigate that.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

Another benefit of these toilets that I don’t think is being discussed enough – while they create potential new problems, it takes the problem out of local businesses hands, who would otherwise be forced to deal with the bathroom needs of all of these people coming downtown.

[Jesse Proudman @jesseproudman]

Seattle's staring at a $500M budget deficit and decided to solve it with toilets that cost $9,700/month each.

A porta-potty runs $250. That's thirty-nine times less.

This isn't how you fix a hole. This is how you dig deeper.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@maximumlight88 @blufinityy @obfuscated_id You don’t have to use the gift cards you purchased in-app, you can use it like any other gift card. I got a $50 Panda Express gift card for $45 the other day and just added it to my Apple wallet.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@feeshflakes @Ya_Big_Dog_Unc @YIMBYLAND There are many people who feel that way, but there is also a smaller/still significant number of people who would pay more to have that convenience. I’d think those homes may sit on the market a little longer, but their values should still be high.

[Landon Halverson @ElectHalverson]

@Ya_Big_Dog_Unc @YIMBYLAND Financing is more difficult, and typically doesn’t improve the ROI for the developer. Combine that with restrictive zoning and general deal complexity, it just isn’t worth it outside of already-dense, walkable urban developments. There’s easier ways for developers to make money.