At least three Tacoma restaurants announced last week that they would cut ties with E9 Brewing Co. after learning that the brewery’s owners, brothers John and Lucas Xitco, gave money as individuals in June to Let’s Go Washington, a PAC formed in 2022 by Redmond-based hedge-fund founder Brian Heywood that has sponsored three initiatives — around transgender athletes, the “parents’ bill of rights” and the “millionaires tax” — for the 2026 general election.

The Xitcos said their June donation was solely in support of the campaign to repeal the millionaires tax. The discovery of their donation, readily available in Public Disclosure Commission data, landed via local political organizer Zev Cook, who is a former Tacoma City Council candidate and co-chair of the Tacoma chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. In a video posted to her Instagram account Aug. 23, she pointed out the Xitcos’ contributions and said, “Here is a list of Tacoma businesses that are helping fund Let’s Go Washington’s anti-trans initiatives.” She specifically named E9 and Asado, which are co-owned by the brothers under the umbrella of X Group Restaurants, and Frisko Freeze, the historic burger shack which John Xitco and his son Nico Xitco bought in 2023 and restored in 2024.

By the end of the week, restaurants including Corbeau, Dusty’s Hideaway and a local Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise said on social media they would stop carrying E9 beers. Dusty’s also shared that it would donate earnings from its remaining E9 inventory to a fundraiser for a transgender employee to receive top surgery.

In a phone call this week, John Xitco strongly disputed the characterization that he, his family or his businesses were “anti-trans” and expressed disappointment at the rhetoric that quickly permeated local social media. He stressed that he and his brother had donated $1,000 and $250, respectively, on June 10 through an email fundraising campaign specifically about repealing the millionaires tax, a 9.9% levy on households earning more than $1 million annually set to start in 2028. He said they were not familiar with Let’s Go Washington at the time and were unaware of the PAC’s other initiatives until last week.