After nearly five decades of building engines and livelihoods in Washington state, Jon Bodwell has reached his limit. The owner of Delta Camshaft, a family business founded in 1977, is packing up and leaving—not because of some mysterious market force, but because the state’s self-inflicted wounds of rampant crime, punishing taxes, and a hostile political climate have made continued operation untenable.
“A majority of it is the constant battle with the city over the graffiti and the crime stuff here, the constant massive tax increase, everything is increasing,” Bodwell told Fox News.
This is not an isolated business decision. It is the predictable verdict of voters who handed power to ideologues more interested in redistribution and leniency than in the rule of law or economic reality.
Bodwell’s story cuts through the rhetoric. He has resorted to living inside his own facility to guard against the graffiti and theft that local authorities treat as nuisances rather than crimes demanding swift justice. Insurance premiums have surged 20 percent. Power bills nearly doubled in a single month. Criminals, he notes, enjoy more procedural protections than the property owners they victimize.
Seattle’s dismal national crime ranking only underscores what residents already know: progressive experiments in policing have consequences, and those consequences are measured in boarded-up buildings and fleeing employers.
This exodus is accelerating. Surveys from the Association of Washington Business reveal deep pessimism, with nearly one in four firms considering departure and businesses far more inclined to expand elsewhere. The state’s new “millionaires tax”—a 9.9 percent levy on high earners, passed by Democrats and signed into law despite constitutional concerns—has only poured fuel on the fire. What progressives dismiss as overblown fears of flight is proving true in real time, as companies and talent seek refuge in states that still value productivity over punishment.
The irony is thick. Washington once boasted a reputation for innovation and natural beauty that attracted ambitious Americans. Decades of Democratic dominance transformed it into a cautionary tale. Leaders who champion “equity” have delivered disorder. Policies sold as compassion for the vulnerable have instead empowered the destructive, leaving manufacturers like Bodwell to absorb the losses.
When police response to vandalism takes longer than the paperwork required to release repeat offenders, the social contract frays. Business owners are left to defend their investments with their own presence rather than the state’s protection.
Critics of this analysis will wave away Bodwell’s testimony as anecdotal. Yet the pattern repeats across the state. Tech founders, investors, and legacy operations cite the same toxic brew: confiscatory taxation, regulatory strangulation, and a justice system that prioritizes ideology over order.
The new income tax, despite assurances it would only touch the ultra-wealthy, sends an unmistakable signal that success itself is suspect. Pass-through businesses and family enterprises feel the bite immediately. Relocation costs may run Bodwell six figures, but he calculates the long-term savings will justify the move. Others are making the same math.
This flight reveals a deeper failure of governance. Progressive experiments assume unlimited tolerance from the productive class. History and economics suggest otherwise. When government prioritizes leniency toward lawbreakers and extraction from job creators, capital and competence vote with their feet. States like Idaho, Tennessee, and Florida stand ready to welcome them with lower burdens and saner policies. Washington’s loss is their gain—and a stark referendum on blue-state governance.
The constitutional framers understood that governments exist to secure rights, including the right to property and the fruits of one’s labor. When officials invert this duty, turning the state into an adversary rather than a protector, they invite precisely the unraveling we witness. Bodwell’s decision to relocate rather than capitulate reflects the quiet resolve of many Americans who still believe work should be rewarded, not penalized.
Washington’s leaders would do well to heed the warning embedded in every departing truck: policies have victims, and those victims include the very communities they claim to serve. Until voters demand a return to first principles—secure streets, restrained taxation, and respect for enterprise—the Evergreen State will continue shedding the businesses that once made it thrive.
