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Embattled Kshama Sawant Poised to Survive Recall as She Picks Up Narrow Lead in Vote Count

Embattled Kshama Sawant Poised to Survive Recall as She Picks Up Narrow Lead in Vote Count

  • With nearly 600 ballots pending and just 232 votes separating the “yes” and “no,” 50.3 percent of the total counted votes say ‘No’ to the recall.

Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant is leading by a thin margin in the vote to recall her. The Seattle Times, citing the counting on Dec. 9 said 50.3 percent of the total counted votes say ‘No’ to the recall. “Sawant has gained ground two days in a row, overcoming a 53 percent lead,” held by the recall effort on Dec. 7, the report said. 

However, with nearly 600 ballots pending, many say the race is too close to call, but supporters ate gearing up for a win. As of Dec. 10, just 232 votes are separating the “yes” and “no” votes from more than 40,000 voters in District 3, which includes Capitol Hill, the Central District, Madison Park, Leschi, Madrona, and parts of surrounding neighborhoods.

On Dec. 7, the Crosscut reported that Sawant braced her supporters for a possible defeat. “We have proudly and powerfully fought back in a way that should be an example to all working people, regardless of ultimately whether we win or lose,” the report quoted her as saying. “The working class will have setbacks 
 even if we do everything right, even if we fight with every ounce of courage, because this bankrupt system is stacked up against us. We do know, however, we do know, if we don’t fight we will never win.”

Her supporters are hopeful. The Kshama Solidarity Campaign said in a statement on Dec. 9 that the “fight is not yet over.” 

Sawant, Seattle’s lone socialist in the City Council, has had a history of emerging victorious despite trailing initially, as the Crosscut notes. “Seattle voters have had a history of swinging left in later returns, which in the past has pulled Sawant to the top after being behind in initial returns,” the news website says. “If this vote trend holds, which appears to have been the case again, the woman who sits on the far left of the council will likely continue her council term, which is next up for a vote in 2023.”

In her first election to the city council in 2013, Sawant “pulled ahead” to victory after trailing longtime incumbent Councilmember Richard Conlin “by 7 percentage points in a citywide race on election night,” Crosscut reported. 

Two years later, she had to run for re-election where she convincingly defeated Pamela Banks, then president of the Seattle Urban League – 58 percent to 44 percent. 

Sawant was re-elected in 2019 in a close contest against Egan Orion, organizer of Seattle PrideFest, which she won by 52 percent. “She trailed Orion by 8 percentage points, only to beat him by 4 percentage points and 2,000 votes when all the votes were counted,” the Crosscut report said. 

Many of Sawant’s supporters have already called out the election. Several have taken to her social media handles to congratulate Seattle’s longest-serving councilwoman. 

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Sawant’s recall is being led by two groups — Recall Sawant and A Better Seattle. Both accuse her of misusing her office resources to promote a Tax Amazon initiative, misusing her position by letting protesters into City Hall after hours, and of leading a protest to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s house. All three charges — malfeasance, malfeasance and violation of the oath of office — have been laid out on the recall ballot.

The Kshama Solidarity Campaign calls the recall “a right-wing and racial attack on progressive policies that benefit people of color and other marginalized groups and on the right to peaceful protest.” On its website, it notes that Sawant has “unapologetically fought for working people” since she was first elected in 2013. “Kshama has used her 8 years in office to win historic victories like the $15 minimum wage, the Amazon Tax to fund housing, and landmark renters protections that infuriate the real estate lobby,” it notes. “This is why the Republican-backed recall has resorted to forcing the most undemocratic Seattle election possible.”

Crosscut reported that “since the summer, Sawant supporters have registered more than 1,000 new voters in the 3rd District,” adding that the Kshama Solidarity Campaign aimed to gain 2,000 new voters by Dec. 7.

Last week, Sawant issued a statement urging voters in District 3 to “vote no on the right-wing recall.” Noting that the charges against her are “dishonest,” and that “the courts haven’t found her guilty of anything,” she said as “an immigrant woman of color,” she is being “attacked for participating in peaceful Black Lives Matter protests. This recall is part of the racist right-wing backlash attempting to criminalize protest nationally.” She said “big business and the right wing” want to remove her because she’s “an effective fighter for working people.”

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