30 Facts About Tim Eyman

Timothy Donald Eyman was born on December 22,1965 and is an American anti-tax activist and businessman.

Since 1997, Eyman has become the most prolific sponsor of Washington ballot measures in its history, having qualified seventeen statewide initiatives.

Tim Eyman's first and most notable success was an initiative preventing affirmative action in Washington State.

In February 2021, Tim Eyman was convicted of violations of campaign finance law and fined $2.6 million, and barred from "managing, controlling, negotiating, or directing financial transactions" for any kind of political committee.

Tim Eyman is currently bankrupt, and in December 2021 a court ordered sale of assets to meet $5.4m in legal liabilities to the State of Washington.

Timothy Donald Eyman was born in Yakima, Washington and adopted shortly after birth.

Tim Eyman graduated from Yakima's West Valley High School and went on to attend Washington State University on an academic scholarship.

Tim Eyman received a bachelor's degree in 1988 in business management.

Tim Eyman attended a public meeting where a Seattle radio host, Dave Ross, was speaking.

Tim Eyman has since been described as a "professional initiative filer".

Tim Eyman has been the primary sponsor of ballot initiatives concerning taxes and transportation almost every year since the passage of Initiative 695.

Tim Eyman has previously described himself as an "independent Republican", noting that he is an admirer of Ralph Nader and Rob McKenna.

Tim Eyman has been variously described by others as a "populist" and a "libertarian".

Frustrated by the passage of tax increases from Governor Gregoire despite promises not to raise them, Tim Eyman introduced Initiative 900 to increase the power of the Washington state auditor to conduct performance audits.

Tim Eyman has been completely unable to substantiate his claim of submitting 300,353 signatures, as he claims to have not made copies of the petitions.

In 2008, Tim Eyman sponsored I-985, which had the purpose to reduce traffic congestion through various means including:.

Tim Eyman submitted approximately 290,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot for the 2008 general election.

In 2009, Tim Eyman sponsored I-1033, which would apply a cap on revenue tied to the consumer price index and population.

Tim Eyman joined BanCams, a local advocacy group opposed to traffic ticketing cameras, in pursuing local initiatives to ban their use in multiple Washington cities, including Monroe, Bellingham and his hometown of Mukilteo.

Tim Eyman sponsored 25 initiatives for 2012, of which only Initiative 1185 made it onto the November general ballot.

On March 15,2018, Tim Eyman introduced two referendum measures with the intent to put all or portions of a recently passed law EHB2957 that effectively phases out non-native finfish aquaculture to a public vote.

Tim Eyman withdrew both referendum measures after Cooke Aquaculture, the only company farming nonnative Atlantic salmon in Washington, made it clear they did not want to be associated with his referendum campaign.

In November 2019, Tim Eyman announced that he was running for Governor of Washington in 2020, while making a public comment at a Sound Transit meeting, as a Republican.

Tim Eyman formally entered the race as a Republican in a speech in his hometown Yakima, where he laid out his intention to run an aggressive campaign against Inslee, ignore his primary opponents, focus on conservative issues, and embrace the perceived similarities between him and President Donald Trump in terms of style, attitude and ability to weather attacks from the Left.

Tim Eyman finished fourth in the top-two primary, with 6.41 percent of the vote.

In February 2002 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Tim Eyman paid himself $165,000 from campaign donations, while claiming to be working for free.

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, the state equivalent of the Federal Election Commission charged Tim Eyman with diverting $233,000 from his initiative campaigns.

In February 2020, Tim Eyman was found to have been in violation of Washington campaign finance laws for at least the last seven years, concealing nearly $800,000 in political contributions.

On February 13,2019, Tim Eyman was accused of stealing a $70 office chair from an Office Depot in Lacey.

The charge was to be dismissed in March 2020, under the condition that Tim Eyman committed no criminal activity for 9 months.