Conlin Concedes: Seattle Elects Sawant as First Socialist Councilmember

[Divernan]

Source: KUOW-FM, Puget Sound/Seattle radio

Longtime Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin conceded his seat to challenger Kshama Sawant late Friday after Sawant's lead widened to 1,640 votes, or 50.3 percent.

Sawant becomes the first Socialist elected to the city council. Her grassroots campaign focused on a $15 minimum wage, rent control in a city with rising rents, and a millionaires' tax to fund transportation. Sawant has a Ph.D. in economics, and has taught economics at Seattle Central Community College. She's been active in the Occupy Seattle movement.

Sawant ran as a Socialist Alternative. She previously ran unsuccessfully for House Speaker Frank Chopp's seat in 2012. She won 29 percent of the vote in that race, which put her on the map. She had been steadily gaining on Conlin since election night when she trailed by more than 7 percent of the vote.

At City Hall on Friday night, Conlin said it’s not alarming to have a Socialist on the Seattle City Council because “when we think of socialism, we think of Sweden, and that's a pretty good model."

Read more: http://kuow.org/

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You go Seattle! Cutting edge again!

[rhett o rick]

1. k&r thanks for posting. nm

[SoapBox]

2. Oh man...

Our idiot rich folk on the Los Angeles City Council would freak out!

This will be so interesting.

[libdem4life]

3. This certainly underscores the importance of the down-ticket work. Just the fact she got any press

at all is amazing, then to actually win. Loved his concession statement as well. Socialism = Sweden. Who wouldn't be for that? Glad it was shared on DU.

[ReRe]

12. Did you see her on Chris Hayes tonight? n/t

[libdem4life]

16. No, darn it. I usually check in. Now she's hit the MSM! That ought to get their heads bursting.

[ReRe]

19. Yip...

... and Chris asked her to define "socialism." Seems like I seen her somewhere else today... maybe Martin Bashir? Can't remember. Or was it Amy Goodman? Yes, she is getting some positive notice.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

29. You Tube link

She sounds great.

[CanSocDem]

31. As "progressive" as he is...

...it seems as though even Chris Hayes has trouble understanding the principles of democratic socialism. Or is this Chris 'dumbing down' for his new time slot...?



.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

44. Hayes definitely knows better,

I suspect the latter explanation.

[cascadiance]

47. Here's a link to her Pirate Television hour long interview a couple of months ago...

I think in this interview she goes in to more detail on some issues and stances that the Democratic establishment were taking that made them more vulnerable to her winning this seat, and perhaps should serve as a warning to other Democrats that they really need to start getting in touch with the directions their constituencies are going in their communities with the newer economic conditions, etc. There's a lot more resistance I think now towards so-called "moderate" thought (which is the label they give to corporatists that are primarily loyal to corporate lobbyists and are "moderate" as they wander around on their stances on social issues that lobbyists don't care about). Voters now are starting to see through the crap and wanting more substance than they've been given.

BTW for Seattle and other Northwest residents, Pirate Television is a good series that airs shows on the weekends primarily on FSTV that features the work of a local Seattle videographer that gets quite a few good interviews and speeches given up here in the Northwest area, such as discussions on Hanford, etc. too. This weekend FSTV aired a recent speech given by Ray McGovern that just aired at noon PST today. I was instantly happy when I saw the news that she had won since I'd seen this interview earlier.

[tavalon]

4. The Stranger told me not to vote for her

and I almost always agree with the POV of the alternative Rag around here, but I'm a Socialist and the allure was just too strong. I just hope we don't get egg on our face for it.

[delrem]

7. Doesn't sound like 'The Stranger' is really an alternative rag.

Well, depending on how deep-pocketed are a "socialist's" opponents on the "right", she'll have to be God's only daughter not to be smeared relentlessly.

[Divernan]

11. Keep in mind this is Seattle, not South Carolina.

Where the mechanics' union just told Boeing to take their blatant $10,000 per employee bribe/bonus offer and shove it rather than approve a new contract screwing fellow employees' out of pensions/health care.

She'll provide a bully pulpit for progressive ideas at the council meetings.

[delrem]

14. good. yes, good.

[tavalon]

13. Their reasoning was "she has no relevent experience"

They told me to hold my nose and vote for the other one. I didn't. The Stranger is very much the alternative rag here. Seattle Weekly is a joke, the daily paper is Repug, and the only other paper I read is Real Change, the paper put out by the homeless (it's not a bad paper and the homeless people who choose to sell it are usually really nice). I just realized I forgot to check if they had recommendations. Doesn't matter. I voted for the Socialist because I'm a Socialist and I just hope her lack of experience becomes a plethora of experience and incumbent advantage.

[eridani]

9. What?? The Stranger was one of the strongest Sawant supporters! n/t

[tavalon]

17. I may be remembering it wrong.

Of course, silly me, did my voting research on the last possible day and ended it with the Stranger and I remember them talking about one of the candidates being the wrong choice because of her lack of experience and to hold my nose and vote for the other one. I'm glad I was wrong. I love the Stranger.

[suffragette]

33. The Stranger has strongly supported Sawant

You must be thinking of a different race. Maybe one of the Port ones, which had a male Socialist candidate, but where they endorsed Gregoire's daughter?

Or it might have been carry over from any number of other papers, like Seattle Times, that dismissed her, then called the race against her very quickly, then kept writing 'whoever would have thought' pieces all last week as her lead kept increasing.

Looking forward to having her voice on City Council.

[DireStrike]

36. Yeah if there was a Stranger endorsement of Conlin, it was in contrast to many, many pro-Sawant

articles before that.

[tavalon]

40. That is the one!

I bow to your amazing remembrance. I voted for the socialist, though they made a fair case for why not. I had forgotten there were two socialists on the ballot. Thank you.

No, it wasn't the Seattle Times I got it from because I don't ever, ever read that piece o' trash. It's good to add to mulch though, and I hear it helps in composting toilets.

Now, that my brain has been reset, I too look forward to her voice on the City Council.

My brain just got double reset. I just realized, I never got to vote for her, because I have two addresses but had to make the Bothell one my address of record. If my Fremont one were my address of record, I would have gotten to vote for her.

I know that makes me out to sound rich. "I have two homes". Not even. I am renting a barge from a friend in Fremont and I've been spending more than half my time helping my developmentally disabled son get his apartment up and running and for the sake of the guardianship, I use his address as my address of record.

I'm just a unionized working stiff who basically has two jobs, full time nursing and over full time assisting my beloved son, who looks more and more like the adult his ID card says he is, but emotionally, he's not much older than six.

[suffragette]

43. Not such an amazing memory

I just remembered how strongly the Stranger endorsed Sawant, then looked up election board on their site and that helped me remember the Port race
I followed their recommendation and voted for Gregoire in that one, but I went back and forth before I did that.


On another note, have you heard of the OLS program at Bellevue College?
http://olsatbellevuecollege.com/mission-and-vision/

It's a pretty innovative program that could be helpful.

Also, there's the Association of Centers for Independent Living in Washington
(ACIL-WA)
http://www.wasilc.org/about/ACIL.html

They could be a good resource for you and your son.

I'm just down the road in South Lake Union if you ever want to chat.

[tavalon]

45. To use a cliche

You've got mail.

Thanks for the leads. We are getting so many these days. It gives me hope that our son will find his way toward a happy adult life. Really, that's all I want for him. I don't guess that's all that different from what most parents want, eh?

[freshwest]

5. WA has socialist roots, even a CP, and not that it's the same thing, strong unionists.

Her solutions are great, especially the one to keep the transportation system growing and healthy. It's what the people want, and the libertarians/baggers have worked to defund along with privatization. It's hurt people and growth.

And Conlin was good to not raise a fuss and try to drag it out and deny her a seat. I didn't support her against Chopp, but I don't live in Seattle which is more liberal than most of the state. They lead the way.

Our co-operative citizens make life better for all of us here and I hope she will be able to fulfill some of the concerns she voiced in the earlier election. Council is the perfect venue for her.

There are historically many peeps here of Scandinavian descent and they are good guys. Ballard is known for its 'Swedes in the weeds.' And this area had many great socialist things in the past, and we need to get back to it.

Congratulations to the good people of SeaWa.

[tavalon]

15. We in Seattle are way, way more liberal than the rest of the state

We are also the most populous, so we get our way much of the time. I think that may be why the rest of the state despises us. Oh well.

[jtuck004]

20. "why the rest of the state despises us" NOT TRUE! There are, possibly,

2 or 3 people that don't.

I'm in that group

[tavalon]

41. Thank you, jtuck004!

I used to live in Duvall and had to put up with all the signs telling me why Seattle sucks and in how many ways! Lol

[Scootaloo]

23. "The rest of the state"

Oh, you mean West Idaho?

Yeah... gotta say, it's hilarious how many of these elk-fucking Republicans think votes ought to be counted by acreage, isn't it?

[ctsnowman]

34. lol

[eridani]

22. There is a reason why many of the same people who didn't support her against Chopp--

--supported her for City Council. Frank Chopp has a substantial amount of power in the legislature due to his seniority as the speaker, and voters were not willing to give that up. On the other hand, seniority in the City Council is a liability, as even its members admit. After all, they voted that they themselves shouldn't be allowed to keep their contributions from year to year to amass ever-growing war chests.

IMO, any of the incumbents could have been displaced by a grassroots campaign with 200+ volunteers. Their opponents were all fruitcakes except for Albert Shen, and he hates bike paths and legal marijuana.(Except that I'd have kept Licata. In his 70s, he has already stated that this will be his last term.)

[freshwest]

25. His seniority was a factor for me, also his commitments to some of our social safety net. I'm glad

she got this chance, sounds she's an intelligent voice for WA.

Hardest problem is the Tim Eyeman followers of the Nordquist Starve the Beast campaign. They are intent on going fully against what we want.

We can't discount mega church influences, either. Very disappointed to see charter schools get a start last year, I think it was.

But this shows Seattle will have a voice for discussing ideas of good governance.

Your post of the JFK video was much appreciated. I truly miss those days, when we could have air time to talk about what mattered to all of us, instead of nonstop Reichwing propaganda.

May the pendelum swing back to balance. I posted about Van Jones here, his ideas are quite clear, if you want to look at them:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219307

That's the longer version with the transcript and his resume, the shorter version with just the video and ther transcript is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024036718#post15

These are things that need to be discussed in this country, without fear.

[eridani]

26. Speaking of Van Jones, everyone should subscribe to Reclaim the Dream n/t

[tavalon]

42. Thanks.

I love everything Van Jones says. He could say "Hi" and I would be reposting it as a sign that he's just so right! Lol

[dharmamarx]

6. Good

Though what I think we really need is not so much individual grassroots campaigns for explicitly Socialist candidates in urban areas (Socialist Alternative's new strategy), but a grassroots movement to build an organized Left. If Sawant didn't get elected some (maybe not all) of the grassroots activism behind her would have been wasted. And now that she is elected, there is still the problem that there is little she can actually accomplish by herself. On the other hand, if we had a sustainable and well organized grassroots Left, then we could get a lot of hard Left candidates elected and substantially reshape American politics. There is, for instance, no good reason why Chicago doesn't have a Socialist mayor (in the Democratic party of otherwise) other than the Left's disorganization and incompetence.

[CanSocDem]

32. Being a 'leftist' means...

...understanding the core principles of Socialism and acknowledging that if nothing else, the lite version, Social Democracy is the only form of government that serves the Public Interest.





.

[DireStrike]

37. Sawant didn't get elected last time. The grass-roots didn't evaporate then.

Electoral losses can be demoralizing, but they don't always result in the entire grassroots movement dissolving.

SA is a small organization, but one that knows the value of organizing. They've been staying engaged with the Occupy offshoots and building on it, resulting in this. There was also a very close election in Minneapolis where SA's candidate Ty Moore got over 40% of the vote. But the occupy homes movement there is vibrant and this loss won't make it go away.

[gopiscrap]

8. excellent

[eridani]

10. Please see the Washington State forum for a lot more articles

Also day by day coverage of the changing vote count.

[passiveporcupine]

18. I don't live in Washington

But I sure am ready for a socialist party to shake up the two party system.

[Scootaloo]

24. The two-party system is inevitable

The only question is, which two?

Funny thing is, we've all been watching hte republicans circle the drain, and figuring hte next up-and-coming party will be a conservative catch-all party...

But what if the reality is that the moderately-sane Democrats jump ship to the democrats (As some seem to be doing) while an actual leftist party rises, making democrats the "conservative" party, and yanking our politicla spectum back from the yawning bring of rightwinginess?

Oh, but I can dream...

[RainDog]

21. k&r n/t

[HijackedLabel]

27. This is great news.

Washington is ahead of the game.

[OutNow]

28. If you can, please contribute to her campaign

I don't live in Washington state or Vermont, but I've supported Bernie Sanders' campaigns since he was mayor of Burlington and now am happy to say I supported Kshama Sawant's City Council race in Seattle as well.

Of course there are socialists that work inside the Democratic Party including the Democratic Socialists of America, but I personally believe it's better to be an "out" socialist like Bernie and Kshama.

If you liked what happened in Seattle, please consider sending a few bucks to her campaign.

http://www.votesawant.org/

[IrishAyes]

30. What a flock of good news to cheer me up this morning

after wading through so many police brutality stories. I've always loved Seattle and Van Jones. He's young enough to have a chance at major national office when the country's ready for him. Keep pushing!

[ctsnowman]

35. K & R

[suffragette]

38. This also counters the 'what has anyone from the Occupied movement done'

Been elected to Seattle City Council!

[cosmicone]

39. I support some of her policies but

some others are sheer illogical.

The minimum wage increase is necessary to build a strong middle class and reward people who help create wealth at the top.

However, she favors "collectivizing" (i.e. nationalizing) Amazon and Microsoft two of some of the most innovative and successful companies who are not known to be the top exploiters of the working class. I doubt a government would strive to stock 1,000,000 plus items in dozens of warehouses and ship them for free withing 2-3 days at a decent price and .. if something goes wrong, offer an immediate refund.

She also favors rent control which hurts the very people it is intended to help. Rent control failed miserably in India and she should know that because she grew up there. Rent control dries up available housing at any price and since there is no profit incentive to build rental housing, no new rental construction takes place, costing thousands of jobs. In India, in places like Mumbai, $2,000,000 apartments carry a rent carried forward from the 50's of 75 cents a month which doesn't even cover sweeping costs of the common areas. This results in dilapidated and unsafe buildings which end up being death traps.

I have no problem with a Scandinavian style socialism where everyone shares the wealth and pain equally. Her brand of Marxism means only those who have worked hard to create businesses and new technologies suffer all the pain and the workers get all the benefits. There has to be an incentive for capital formation in the real world.

In any event, congratulations to a sister from my place of birth and hopefully she will be able to moderate some of her extreme positions in order to keep climbing the ladder of success.

[EricMaundry]

46. Looks like the old Transit and Sustainability BS isn't flying anymore

People want jobs, they want to get paid decently for those jobs, and they want rent control.

So they had to turn to a Socialist. Go figure.

[idwiyo]

48. K&R YES!!!