"Conlin concedes, Sawant becomes Seattle's first socialist council member"

[suffragette]

http://www.nwcn.com/news/politics/Conlin-concedes-Sawant-wins--232133551.html

Posted on November 15, 2013 at 4:46 PM

Updated today at 5:05 PM

Socialist Kshama Sawant is officially Seattle's next City Council member.

Longtime Seattle City Council member Richard Conlin conceded to Sawant Friday evening, after new election numbers showed her ever-widening lead of 1,640 votes.

Sawant sat down with KING 5 News on Friday. She admits she isn't entirely accustomed to the political spotlight.

"I didn't set out to do this. I wasn't thinking about holding an elective office. I just wanted to be an activist," Sawant said.

[Tx4obama]

1. Heads Up - She is going to be on MSNBC Chris Hayes' show now after the commerical

[suffragette]

2. Waiting for the bus

Can you update?

[gopiscrap]

3. YES!!!!

[suffragette]

6. I'm looking forward to seeing her take this energy to Council

Especially with ideas like the $15 minimum wage gaining traction here.

[gopiscrap]

11. yup me too

[eridani]

4. Count as of 4:30pm on Friday

Conlin 86582 49.36%
Sawant 88222 50.30%

Concession email (sent to all PCOs of all LDs that endorsed him)

I want to thank the voters of Seattle for the honor of serving as your Councilmember for the last 16 years. It has been a privilege to be your representative and I am proud of what we have done together.

Unfortunately, it appears that my opponent has received a greater number of votes, and I am formally conceding the election to Ms. Sawant. I hope that she will serve the people of Seattle effectively during her time in office.

I would like to thank the tens of thousands of voters who supported my campaign. I also want to express my appreciation to the many individuals, organizations, and groups who supported me by endorsing our efforts.

Thank you also to all those who volunteered countless hours of time and who donated to my campaign. I am sorry that we did not prevail but I will always be grateful to you for your gracious and generous support.

Seattle Times article--

Longtime Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin has conceded his seat to challenger Kshama Sawant.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2013/11/15/sawant-increases-lead-conlin-to-make-statement-at-5-p-m/

“It has been a privilege to be your representative and I am proud of what we have done together,” Conlin said this afternoon.

Kshama Sawant increased her lead today over Conlin and is leading by 1,640 votes in updated vote totals. She held 50.3 percent of the vote, while Conlin held 49.4 percent. On Thursday, she led by 1,148.

“We do not at this point see a realistic path to success,” Conlin said. “Certainly I’m surprised and disappointed … I felt that we ran a strong campaign and she obviously ran a stronger one.”

[suffragette]

8. Thanks eridani

Been doing some reading this morning and much of this seems similar to the 30s politics here, with the rise of Occupied similar to previous worker's movements and a college educator being elected to Council.

I noticed that some articles, like the one I quoted, stated she was the first socialist on City Council, and others stated first in @ a century. They never mention a name for the previous. I wonder if that's referring to Hugh De Lacy, who had strong socialist ties but ran as a Democrat.


http://books.google.com/books?id=1pQ1q55L22wC&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=delacy+seattle+council+1937&source=bl&ots=gtes-igsAj&sig=XuuC5bhDhu49sQpClOH3m1BnybM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1rKHUqzQI8WSiALGqIHoCw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=delacy%20seattle%20council%201937&f=false

[Ken Burch]

9. He couldn't even bring himself to congratulate her.

Basically, Conlin's message to Sawant was "I hope youi don't screw up".

You can tell that the entitled jerk thinks Kshama had no right to defeat him.

[Tx4obama]

5. VIDEO of Sawant on Hayes' show on link below...

Here: http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/socialist-no-longer-such-a-dirty-word-64334403866

[suffragette]

7. Thank you!

Nice to see her on the national stage!

[eridani]

13. She handled that very well.

I half wondered if she might come off like the St Bernard who finally caught a SmartCare, but no worries there.

[eridani]

10. Just as a point of information, Conlin did not have "countless volunteers"

He didn't have any kind of campaign at all except for a few mailers. Of course all the Precinct Committee Officers in all the legislative districts in or partly in Seattle which endorsed him did their duty and passed out LD endorsement flyers to all known Strong Democrats and Leaning Democratic voters who voted in at least 2 out of the last 4 elections. That is campaigning for an endorsed slate, though, not campaigning for any specific candidate.

Usually for incumbent Seattle City Council members that is enough, especially if your opponents are fruitcakes without campaigns themselves--which all were except for Albert Shen (33% of the vote against MIke O'Brien), who hates bike lanes and legal marijuana. Clearly it is not enough if your opponent has real campaign volunteers who do a lot of wll-organized doorbelling and phonebanking.

[eridani]

12. Saturday afternoon update

Sawant-90818
Conlin-88529
Write-inn - 640
Total--179987


Sawant--50.4581%
Conlin--49.1863%
Since 11/7, Sawant's average percent of the daily vote has been 54.9%

[eridani]

14. Al Jazeera America article

Kshama Sawant a Socialist and Occupy Member Wins Seat on Seattle City Council

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/20480-kshama-sawant-a-socialist-and-occupy-member-wins-seat-on-seattle-city-council

Seattle voters have elected a socialist to city council for the first time in modern history. Kshama Sawant, a member of the populist Occupy Seattle movement, ran on a platform of raising Washington State's minimum wage to $15 and levying a "millionaire tax" to pay for mass transit and public education.

Sawant took 50.3 percent of the vote to incumbent Richard Conlin's 49.4 percent. Even in this liberal city, Sawant's win has surprised many here because Conlin was backed by the city's political establishment.

While city council races are technically non-partisan, Sawant made sure people knew she was running as a socialist - a label that would be politically poisonous in many parts of the country.

"In Seattle, living costs have become unaffordable for the vast majority of people working low wage jobs amid skyrocketing living costs," Sawant told Al Jazeera. "This has created a hunger among people for a political alternative ... and the beginning of an understanding that capitalism is not working."