Official Final Election Results: Passes 58-42%!
BALLOT COUNT: 12,048 (23.91% VOTER TURNOUT)
YES ballots: 8,144 BALLOTS CAST (58.04%)
NO ballots: 5,888 (41.96%)
View final election results by visiting King County Elections. See final precinct level election results, interactive data and more.
Raise The Wage Renton was on the February Ballot
Working people got it passed.
Get involved in the fight to protect a raise for working Renton.
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Hear election results coverage from King 5 Local News!
Watch the latest coverage from King 5 Local News covering the February Special Election results. Read the full article here! Featuring a favored local small business event space DeLancey’s on 3rd! Located in the Historic Downtown Urban Center.
We’re fighting to ensure Working Families can afford to live in Renton.
Initiative Measure 23-02 will bring Renton’s minimum wage on parity with South King County Neighbors.
In 2015, the city of SeaTac landed a historic win as it became the first city in the United States to adopt a $15 minimum wage law. That same year, Seattle followed suit and enacted its own minimum wage increase. In 2022, the city of Tukwila passed a minimum wage ordinance mandating a $19 minimum wage, receiving widespread support with over 80% of the vote. And just this year, King County Councilmembers are proposing a near-identical $19 minimum wage ordinance for all of Unincorporated King County.
When Renton workers earn a living wage, everyone benefits.
Working families have more income to spend at local businesses and on necessities like child care and health care. They’re less likely to miss a rental payment and become homeless. Good jobs make our communities stronger.
Renton wages aren’t keeping pace with our region’s cost of living—especially rising housing costs
Right now, a person working a full-time minimum wage job in Renton must spend over 60% of their income to rent a modest 1-bedroom apartment in King County.
Raise the Wage Renton is a community coalition working to raise our minimum wage through a ballot initiative in 2024.
Our proposal grew out of many conversations with Renton workers, businesses and residents. Through a year-long process that involved conversations with tens of thousands of Renton residents, we’ve put forward and qualified a ballot initiative for the February special election.
Renton’s Minimum Wage is Lagging Behind.
It’s no wonder that thousands of Renton residents commute long distances from elsewhere in the county, over 45,000 Renton residents commute daily out of Renton chasing higher wages. The minimum wage of $16.28 is several dollars an hour less than neighboring cities like SeaTac and Seattle.