WASHINGTON’S 2025 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER'S GUIDE

Your Guide to the Best Candidates for Rental Housing

Election season is here, and once again it’s time to make your voice heard at the ballot box. This year brings another significant round of statewide races, and RHAWA is proud to present our most extensive list of voter recommendations yet.

Inside this guide, you’ll find the candidates we believe will have the greatest positive impact on rental housing across Washington. Our Government Affairs team reviewed campaigns from every district to identify the strongest advocates for housing providers. In some races, you’ll see multiple recommendations—offering you the opportunity to support the platform that resonates most with you. In other races, we found no standout candidates on rental housing issues, and those have been left blank.

Casting your ballot is one of the most powerful ways to shape the future of rental housing in our state. Don’t miss the chance to participate—complete your ballot, turn it in on time, and make your voice count. Thank you for taking the time to review our recommendations and for being an active part of this democratic process.

KEEP ACTIVE WITH RHAWA IN THE 2026 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

The upcoming January session will be what’s known as a “short session” and will run from the first Monday in January until the middle of March. These short sessions tend to proceed at an almost breakneck pace with a much shorter window to debate and pass legislation.

That being said, we all need to stay vigilant. With rent control now passed into law, look for policy makers to return to the table and say “that’s not good enough” and work on lowering the rent control cap.

Or, how about the recently passed B&O Tax on self-storage facility rent? There will be an aim to add this to residential and commercial buildings.

Don’t forget about the big push in the budget last year to raise the property tax ceiling, increasing the REIT tax, or severely capping pet deposits. All these things and more coming to a legislative session near you.

2025 LEGISLATIVE SESSION HIGHLIGHT

• Housing Policy Education: Hosted events to educate lawmakers and candidates on critical housing issues, fostering dialogue and raising awareness of the challenges facing housing providers and renters.
• Media Campaign: Raised nearly $300,000 and reached over 4.1 million people through a targeted campaign, including the creation of a website, and impactful anti-rent control commercials.
• RHAWA, the voice of our industry in the media, appeared in statewide media publications nearly 25 times in the last year which averages to almost two times per week.
• Legislative Collaboration: Worked with lawmakers to develop policies focused on preserving rental housing and promoting affordability across income levels.
• Coalition Advocacy: Led a diverse coalition in opposing EHB 1217 through a widely supported open letter to state leaders.
• Lawmaker Engagement: Conducted 115+ meetings with legislators, featuring both independent housing providers and top industry voices.

RHAWA 2026 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

All the RHAWA drafted and supported bills received hearings at last year’s session and we will be bringing many of these back again. The policies received hearings because lawmakers know the policies make sense and will help housing providers and tenants alike.

• Revise HB 1003: This bill has created animosity between housing providers and the postal service due to the sheer number of notices required to be sent via-certified mail. This has increased the administrative and financial burden on housing providers small and large which has made it less likely that tenants will receive important notices in a timely fashion.
• Tenant Assistance Program (TAP): Short term rental assistance, prevents evictions, preserves housing. This has become ever more important because of the slow uptick in cost burdened households.
• Harmonization: Many jurisdictions around the state have vastly different rental policies which can make things confusing for the tenant as well as the housing provider. And now with the implementation of statewide rent control (HB 1217) these complex and varied measures are no longer necessary.
• Tenant Safety and Eviction Reform: Tenant safety is paramount and unfortunately it is extremely hard to remove even a dangerous tenant from a property in a timely manner.