Kshama Sawant is the Socialist who can’t be made to go away. First elected in 2013, re-elected in 2015 and 2019, then surviving a recall in 2021 despite her detractors spending $1 million on their campaign to unseat her, it’s obvious voters in her district like her.
Sawant seems radical even by Seattle standards, and her antics raise eyebrows. But her detractors have repeatedly failed to unseat her. When she first ran for Seattle City Council in 2013, she defeated an incumbent by 51%-49%. In 2015, she was reelected by 56%-44%; in 2019, by 52%-48% against a determined effort to defeat her. In each of these races, her opponent was a factor.
The 2021 recall was different, because only her name was on the ballot. Voters were asked to vote for or against her, without knowing who would replace her if she lost; the City Council would have appointed an interim council member until an election could be held. As of December 15, she leads 50.4% – 49.6%, even closer than her 2013 results. But late-arriving ballots have been trending in her favor, and although there are several hundred challenged ballots up in the air, she’s unlikely to lose her 317-vote lead. This blog called the recall election for her several days ago, at least a day before the Seattle news media did. For a fourth time, she has won.
On paper, it appears her support is declining, and a strong and well-funded opponent could unseat her in the next regular election in 2023, and perhaps so. And if Amazon stays out of it. She’s probably benefiting from voter backlash against Amazon throwing money at efforts to unseat her without little regard for the quality of the candidates they’re backing. Sawant has proposed a “head tax” on Amazon to fund city poverty programs, and they don’t like that. Nobody cares that Amazon doesn’t want to be taxed, and a giant corporation’s intervention in what everyone sees as a local election raises hackles.
Below are the official results. She won by 306 votes, a slight reduction from the last update. The election will be certified on Monday, December 20, 2021. The recall campaign told King 5 News it won’t challenge the results (story here).
Against Recall: 20,646 (50.4%)
For Recall: 20,340 (49.6%)
Follow results here.