The election-finance watchdog Washingtonians for Ethical Government filed a complaint against the conservative political committee Let’s Go Washington, alleging that it failed to disclose political advertising tied to two statewide initiative campaigns. The complaint asks the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) to investigate.
The 24-page filing asserts that Let’s Go Washington did not report the value of more than 150 individual instances of promoting political advertising identified by conservative podcaster and former TV journalist Brandi Cruz. It also alleges unreported in-kind contributions that the organization supposedly received without proper disclosure.
“We believe failures to disclose advertising violate the state’s pre-election expense registration law,” said Pam Stuart, a representative of Washingtonians for Ethical Government, at a press conference. “I think disclosure requirements are one of the few tools democracy has to counter hidden donors who may be funding advertising or disinformation.”
Voters will consider two initiatives drafted by Let’s Go Washington in the November ballot. The conservative group was founded by Brian Heywood — a conservative activist and former businessman — and is known for sponsoring referendums aimed at overturning progressive laws, such as carbon-emissions taxes. The first initiative would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports in K-12 schools. The second would expand the list of documents parents can request from school administration under a “parents’ bill of rights.”
Let’s Go Washington called the complaint “baseless,” saying the organization never paid Brandi Cruz for mentions of the initiatives. Communications director Halley Hertzberg cited a 2007 Washington Supreme Court decision holding that on-air support for candidates or campaigns is not considered a monetary contribution because it is protected by the First Amendment. That ruling limited the PDC’s authority to regulate independent expenditures but strengthened requirements to disclose financial contributions, obliging political groups to clearly identify the source of funds even when they do not spend money directly on advocacy. Cruz herself also denies any financial ties to the group.
The complaint alleges that Cruz promoted Let’s Go Washington more than 150 times across her digital platforms — on her podcast, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The value of those mentions is estimated between $345,000 and $1.25 million. In one podcast episode she explicitly urged listeners to sign a petition to get the sports initiative on the ballot.
This is not the first time Let’s Go Washington has come under scrutiny — in 2024 the group was fined $20,000 for improper reporting by subcontractors, and in 2025 it received an official warning for mislabeling sponsors in online ads. A prior complaint from the same watchdog organization was dismissed by the PDC, which is an independent five-member body appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate with equal representation from the two major parties. The commission can require candidates and political groups to disclose all contributions and expenditures, audit reports, initiate investigations based on complaints or on its own, and impose fines up to $10,000 for violations such as hiding funding sources or filing late reports.
The PDC must now decide whether to open an investigation based on the new complaint. If the allegations are substantiated, it could lead to additional fines and intensify debates over political campaign transparency in Washington state, which already has some of the strictest disclosure laws in the U.S. Those laws require that any contribution over $50 be reported, political committees must disclose all donors including those from other states, anonymous donations are prohibited, and independent groups must declare large contributions with potential fines higher than in most other states.
Based on: Complaint alleges Let’s Go Washington violated campaign finance laws