As one season ends, another begins.

Election season is now upon us, and Tim Eyman’s Initiative 892 is on the ballot. Funded by out of state, foreign gambling conglomerates, Initiative 892 asks voters to grant the gambling industry the right to invade Washington communities.

I-892 is a malicious, destructive initiative, financed by a scheming gambling industry, and falsely promoted by Tim Eyman as a plan to give everyone a free pony (sorry, make that property tax cut). But Initiative 892 isn’t about property tax cuts. It’s about the biggest expansion of gambling in the history of the state.

Initiative 892 would allow the installation of 18,255 slot machines in neighborhood bars, bowling alleys, and restaurants, and would create $23 billion in new wagering… as admitted by Tim Eyman himself.

As we move forward into August, September, and October, a great battle looms before us. We have won one victory against Tim Eyman with the failure of Initiative 684, but now we face a well-funded, powerful foe… Eyman’s partners in the the gambling industry.

The industry will stop at nothing to achieve their agenda. They have lobbied intensely to the Legislature to have electronic slot machines approved, to no avail. Now, they are trying the “back door” – the initiative process.

Tim Eyman has been defeated at the ballot box before, when voters resoundingly voted down Initiative 745. We’ve beaten Eyman once before at the ballot, and we can do it again.

We hereby renew our commitment to see I-892’s defeat through to the end. We are resolved to continue opposing this awful initiative every step of the way until Election Day.

And we can do it. We’ve already seen Eyman’s winning streak come to an end. Of the last four initiatives that Eyman has attempted to qualify to the ballot, only one has made it. Three have failed. And one only succeeded because of huge contributions from gambling conglomerates.

Fewer and fewer people are buying the snake oil Tim Eyman is selling. Unable to secure financing for what he really wants to put on the ballot, Eyman has made a pact with the gambling industry to serve as their front man, promoting this ridiculous tax refunds for slot machines plan. How fitting that he’s now a tool of an industry that preys on people in order to generate profits.

We can fight both Eyman and the gambling industry and win. But only if we organize and mobilize for victory every day from now through Election Day.