Here’s what public records tell us about the candidates for Tacoma mayor
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Tacoma Municipal Elections 2025
Half the the Tacoma City Council and the mayor are up for election this year. These Q&As give the candidates’ plans for the city in their own words.
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John Hines and Anders Ibsen, the two candidates running to become Tacoma’s next mayor, have been in the spotlight for years.
The politicians, who both hail from District 1 – which covers the North End and West End – are ramping up their campaign efforts as election day approaches. Tacoma residents should have received mail-in ballots by now, and ballots should be dropped off at a drop box or postmarked by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4. The winner will take on the role of mayor in a time of significant transition for the city, which could see new faces in at least seven leadership roles in 2026.
As longtime public figures, Hines’ and Ibsen’s professional lives are well documented in public records. The News Tribune searched through some of those records. Here’s what we found:
An ethics violation
In 2018, Ibsen was the subject of a complaint to Tacoma’s Board of Ethics – perhaps one of the most whispered-about stories of the mayoral race this year. The ethics board is one of few paths to accountability for Tacoma’s most visible and highest-paid employees. The board most recently discussed outgoing Mayor Victoria Woodards’ acceptance of an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel and found that she did not violate the city’s code of ethics in doing so.
According to documents obtained by The News Tribune, two people filed a complaint with Tacoma’s Board of Ethics in June 2018, alleging that Ibsen used his position as a City Council member to advance his real-estate business. The complaints cited an email Ibsen sent from his professional email address and text on his real estate website highlighting his experience as a council member.
“As both a Certified Residential Appraiser and a two-term City Council member in Tacoma, realtor Anders Ibsen’s diverse experiences in public policy and our local market have given him a thorough understanding of the economic forces at work in our community,” Ibsen’s website read at the time.
The ethics board considered the complaints that summer and ultimately found that Ibsen did use his position as a council member to “promote and enhance the reputation of his private business” – a violation of the city’s ethics code. But it recommended no penalty against Ibsen because he had since revised his marketing materials to remove any explicit references to his positions as a city council member.
He has since described the incident as a “marketing error” and said that, if elected, he plans to maintain his business in real estate but will take a step back from its active operations to maintain a “firewall” between work with the city and work in real estate.
“I have since learned from the experience to make very clear distinctions between my business and my public service,” he told The News Tribune earlier this week.
Finances
All candidates running for public office in the state of Washington are required to file an F-1 or “Financial Affairs Disclosure” with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.
The report that Hines submitted most recently covers Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2024. It lists four sources of income. Hines reported earning somewhere between $100,000 to $199,999 for his work as an instructional facilitator for Tacoma Public Schools.
According to the Washington State Fiscal Information website, he earned $113,204 in the 2023-2024 academic year for a position listed as “other support personnel” with Tacoma Public Schools.
Hines also reported less than $30,000 in per diem for board service with Pierce Transit and $30,000 through $59,999 for his service as a City Council member. Council members with the city of Tacoma earn $65,610.01 a year, an amount that is scheduled to increase to $67,445.11 in 2026. The F-1 report also lists $60,000 to $99,999 in income earned by Hines’ spouse or registered domestic partner as a physical therapist.
The form aligns with what Hines has said publicly – he often touts his background as an educator on his campaign materials.
The form lists a variety of assets, largely consisting of money in a state pension account and retirement accounts. Hines is listed as the owner on two properties in Washington: a home in Tacoma and a cabin in Hoodsport.
Ibsen’s F-1 report covers the same year-long time frame. He reported three different sources of income in ranges: $200,000 to $499,999 for work as a real estate broker, less than $30,000 for work as an appraiser and $30,000 to $59,999 for work as a property manager.
He’s also listed as the owner of three properties, two in Tacoma and one in King County in the city of Pacific.
Lawsuits and court records
The name “John Hines” results in only one search result in Pierce County Superior Court – a suit filed against a defendant listed under that name in 2017 for failure to pay a roughly $1,000 credit card bill. The defendant in the case that was ultimately resolved is a Lakewood resident with a similar name, and the mayoral candidate confirmed to The News Tribune that it was not in reference to him.
Ibsen has been named in one lawsuit filed in Pierce County Superior Court, a ballot title appeal filed against Ibsen and the rest of the City Council in 2014 in its official capacity. The plaintiffs were dissatisfied with the ballot title for a proposal to amend the city charter. A judge ultimately denied the plaintiffs appeal.
This story was originally published October 26, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that Tacoma mayoral candidate John Hines was not the subject of a lawsuit for an unpaid credit card bill in 2017.
