Seattle’s Socialist Councilmember Prevails Against Amazon

FEATURING KSHAMA SAWANT – It took several days to count all the votes in Seattle, Washington’s nail-biting city council elections but the council’s first Socialist member Kshama Sawant surged past her opponent to win. The day after the contentious November 5^th election, Sawant’s opponent, Egan Orion, heavily backed by the retail giant Amazon, had tallied up more votes. But after mail-in ballots were counted the incumbent prevailed. The battle over her seat is a national story of how billionaires are desperately trying, but often failing, to subvert democratic systems with wads of cash. Sawant put it succinctly during her speech once her victory was formalized.

Kshama Sawant, a member of Seattle’s City Council and the first socialist to be elected to that body. She is affiliated with the Socialist Alternative party and just won a high-profile race to keep her seat.