Tacoma voters weighed in on Initiative 1, a renter-protection measure called Safe Homes For All, while Pierce County voters decided Proposition 1, a transit tax plan, in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. KNKX said election results would be updated after 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
For Tacoma, Initiative 1 would go beyond the Tenant Bill of Rights passed in 2023 by forcing the city to investigate complaints about bad landlords. If officials found a violation, the landlord would have to pay the tenant at least $500, and the penalty could rise to five times the monthly rent for more serious cases. The proposal would also create a new per-unit license fee and require landlords to bargain with renters who form tenant unions.
That made the race a follow-up to a measure voters had already approved. The 2023 Tenant Bill of Rights added new tenant protections, but it did not give the city a mechanism to enforce them. This time, supporters argued that enforcement was the missing piece, while landlord and real estate groups poured over $850,000 into defeating the initiative, more than doubling the record for political spending in a Tacoma city race.
On the county side, Proposition 1 would nearly double bus service across Pierce County by raising the sales tax rate 3 cents on every $10 spent. Pierce Transit said the measure would mean more service, shorter wait times and new routes. Pierce County said the higher tax would increase bus service by 47%, extend service hours, add four new routes and make all bus rides free for seniors, while also adding more connections to regional transit stops like the Tacoma Dome light rail station planned for 2035.
John Miles wrote the statement against Proposition 1 in the voter’s pamphlet after hearing that nobody else wanted to. He said he agreed that Pierce County needs better transit service, but argued that the sales tax was the wrong way to pay for it because it falls more heavily on lower-income people. Supporters countered that sales tax is one of the few tools the state legislature allows for transit funding and said the tax would not apply to groceries, rent or medicine.
The two measures landed on ballots in a county that has grown sharply over the past decade and is projected to add about 275,000 more residents by 2044. Previous Pierce Transit tax proposals failed in 2011 and 2012, but backers said the scale of growth now makes service expansion unavoidable. The missing piece after election night is simple: whether Tacoma voters backed the renter enforcement plan and whether Pierce County voters accepted the transit tax that would pay for it.
