‘Let’s Go WA’ rally coming to Pierce County school. Did the district approve it?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Peninsula School District initially rescinded a mistaken approval for the rally
- Organizers plan five statewide rallies to gather signatures for two initiatives.
- Initiatives would support parent rights and place restrictions on transgender athletes.
The Peninsula School District has approved a rally at Gig Harbor High School proposed by the political action committee Let’s Go Washington, after previously stating a prior approval was issued by mistake, according to district staff and the event organizers.
Let’s Go Washington organizers plan to host a “Super Signer Rally” with guest speaker Ari Hoffman in the Gig Harbor High School gymnasium on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 1:30-3 p.m., the group’s website indicates. Hoffman hosts a talk radio show, The Ari Hoffman Show, on the conservative talk radio station 570 KVI. He’s also an editor for a conservative news outlet called The Post Millennial.
Let’s Go Washington is a political action committee founded by Brian Heywood in 2022 to advocate for several initiatives to the state Legislature. Initiatives the group advocated for last year include a repeal of the state’s capital gains tax and limiting restrictions on natural gas.
The event at Gig Harbor High School is listed as one of five rallies the organization is hosting in schools across the state to gather support for proposed initiatives, per their website. Attendees can sign petitions for the initiatives, turn in petitions that others have signed and listen to guest speakers, Hallie Balch, the organization’s director of communications, told The News Tribune. They first reached out to the Peninsula School District about their proposed event in early October.
Chief of Schools Michael Farmer wrote in an email that the district first issued a notice approving Let’s Go Washington’s event Oct. 31. Staff told them the event was unauthorized Nov. 6, and then delivered a final approval Wednesday at around 11:30 a.m.
The two initiatives for which Let’s Go Washington is collecting signatures are:
IL26-001: Strengthen Communication Between Parents & Schools involves changes to a state law known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, including expanding the type of records parents are legally allowed to access such as their children’s health care information.
IL26-638: Protecting Fairness in Girls’ Sports proposes to bar transgender students from playing in girls’ sports.
Other rallies listed on the website include events hosted at schools in Kent, Spokane, Bothell and Lynden. Ari Hoffman is listed as the guest speaker solely for the Gig Harbor rally.
The district approved the event at Gig Harbor High School, then retracted that approval, per a message to the event organizers that the district’s Chief of Schools Farmer shared with The News Tribune Friday. On Wednesday, both the district and Balch confirmed that the event had ultimately been approved.
“ ... we recently denied an application from an outside group to use a district facility for an event on Sunday, November 16, 2025,” Farmer wrote in an email Wednesday. “We were then contacted again by the event’s organizer with more information, requesting that we reconsider our denial.
“After seeking further legal counsel, the District has determined that approving this application for use of public facilities is consistent with state law and board policies. It is also important to note that Board Policy 4260 already states, ‘Authorization for use of school facilities will not be considered as endorsement or approval of the activity, group or organization.’ We will continue to review our policies and procedures to eliminate any confusion in the future.”
The News Tribune asked the district how much they’re charging Let’s Go Washington to use the Gig Harbor High School gym but did not immediately hear back Wednesday. Balch also didn’t know the specific amount when asked Wednesday but wrote in a text message that “all the schools charge to have outside groups occupy their space.”
Let’s Go Washington will pay an estimated $541 in facility fees for a three-hour rental, Chief of Schools Farmer wrote in an email Thursday. A sliding scale on the district website lists facility rental fees for different types of groups, with commercial, private or profit-making groups paying the highest rates.
District previously said staff issued approval by mistake
In a prior message to the event organizers, the district acknowledged possible ambiguity in their policies and said the event wasn’t authorized.
“Upon further internal review, it has come to our attention that a miscommunication occurred, and an approval was issued without proper authorization or review by our district administration,” the district’s initial message retracting their approval read. The district shared this message with a reporter Friday who asked if the event had been approved.
“In line with past practices, and under our existing policies, your event is not authorized,” the message continued. “In the past, we have allowed seated officials to conduct town halls to facilitate public access to those they represent. We acknowledge that there may be some ambiguity in the current policy, and we are committed to reviewing and eliminating any confusion.”
“The school hadn’t told us what policy they were citing,” Let’s Go Washington spokesperson Balch wrote in an email Friday evening. “Nothing in the contract or approval process would lead to this event being cancelled, and in fact they have hosted other similar events in the past, so we had no reason to believe they wouldn’t also approve ours.”
Let’s Go Washington says event is authorized under state law
In a text just after 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Balch told The News Tribune that the district had given them final confirmation approving their event at Gig Harbor High School. The day before, Balch told The News Tribune via phone that there had been “a lot of back and forth” between the district and Let’s Go Washington over the event.
She also cited a state law, RCW 28A.320.510, in defense of the group’s right to use the school building for their event. That law authorizes “school facilities to be used for summer schools or for meetings, whether public, literary, scientific, religious, political, mechanical, agricultural or whatever, upon approval of the board under such rules or regulations as the board of directors may adopt, which rules or regulations may require a reasonable rental for the use of such facilities.”
Balch described the rallies as “a safe space ... to participate in democracy.” The organization is seeing an “unprecedented” amount of harassment and attacks on people involved with the campaign, and the rallies provide a way for people to sign and turn in their petitions safely, she said. Harassment and threats against Let’s Go Washington signature gatherers have led to multiple arrests, The Olympian’s Simone Carter reported.
Balch said that Gig Harbor was chosen as one of several locations to get “a pretty even spread across the state,” geographically.
The organization is asking supporters to mail off their petitions by Dec. 19 for review by the Secretary of State, the office responsible for verifying that everyone who signed the petitions is a Washington state registered voter, said Balch. The petitions will then go to the state Legislature, which can choose whether to adopt the initiatives, she explained. If the Legislature decides not to adopt them or decides to make amendments, the initiatives will go to the voters on the next general election ballot.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional information about when the district delivered notices to Let’s Go Washington regarding the event, and the total estimated charge for Let’s Go Washington to rent the space.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
