Jump to content

Kshama Sawant

Page protected with pending changes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by KitsuneLogic (talk | contribs) at 18:19, 3 February 2024 (Remove the Seattle city council template since it no longer contains references to her as it only refers to current members.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

An accepted version of this page, accepted on 3 February 2024, was based on this revision.

Kshama Sawant
Member of the Seattle City Council
In office
January 1, 2014 – January 2, 2024
Preceded byRichard Conlin
Succeeded byJoy Hollingsworth
ConstituencyPosition 2 (2014–2016)
3rd district (2016–2024)
Personal details
Born (1973-10-17) October 17, 1973 (age 51)
Pune, India
Political partySocialist Alternative (since 2008)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic Socialists of America (since 2021)
Spouses
Vivek Sawant
​
(before 2016)​
Calvin Priest
​
(m. 2016)​
EducationUniversity of Mumbai (BS)
North Carolina State University (MA, PhD)
Signature
WebsiteGovernment website

Kshama Sawant (/kʃʌmɑː sɑːˈwʌnt/; born October 17, 1973)[1][2] is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.

A former software engineer, Sawant became an economics instructor in Seattle after immigrating to the United States from her native India.[3] She ran unsuccessfully for the Washington House of Representatives in 2012 before winning her seat on the Seattle City Council in 2013. She was the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board in 1916.[4][5] Sawant narrowly survived a December 7, 2021 recall election for her position on the council by a margin of 310 votes, or 0.76%. It was the first held in Seattle since 1975.

In January 2023, Sawant announced that she would not seek re-election, and would instead promote the Socialist Alternative campaign Workers Strike Back to unionize workers.[6]

Early life and career

Born to H. T. and Vasundhara Ramanujam into a middle-class Tamil[7] family in the city of Pune, India. Sawant was raised mostly in Mumbai.[8][9][10] Her mother is a retired principal and her father, a civil engineer, was killed by a drunk driver when she was 13 years old.[11] She describes her family as "full of doctors and engineers and mathematicians" but says that "I wasn’t exposed to any particular ideology growing up."[12]

Sawant graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Mumbai in 1994.[13] After moving to the United States with her husband Vivek Sawant, a Microsoft software engineer,[14] she decided to turn her attention to economics following a year and a half stint as a programmer.[12] She received her PhD in economics from North Carolina State University in 2003.[15] Her dissertation was titled Elderly Labor Supply in a Rural, Less Developed Economy.[2][16]

After moving to Seattle, she taught at Seattle University and University of Washington Tacoma and was an adjunct professor at Seattle Central College.[17][18] She was also a visiting assistant professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.[19]

Early political career

Sawant has indicated that the genesis of her becoming a socialist began in India, a country plagued by immense poverty.[11] This development was furthered when she arrived in the United States, which she describes as "the wealthiest country in the history of humanity", and was surprised to encounter poverty and homelessness.[12] In 2008, she attended a Socialist Alternative meeting after reading a pamphlet and proceeded to become a member.[20]

In 2012, Sawant ran unsuccessfully for Position 1 in the 43rd district of the Washington House of Representatives, representing Seattle.[21] Sawant also ran and advanced past the primaries as a write-in win for Position 2.[21] Washington state law allowed her to choose the election in which she would run, but as a write-in candidate, she was not permitted to state her party preference.[21] Sawant successfully sued the Washington secretary of state for the right to be listed as a Socialist Alternative member on the ballot.[21] Sawant challenged incumbent Democratic House speaker Frank Chopp in the general election on November 6, 2012. She received 29% of the vote to Chopp's 70%.[22]

Seattle City Council

2013 election

After her unsuccessful run for the House, Sawant entered the race for Seattle City Council with a campaign organized by the Socialist Alternative.[23] She won 35% of the vote in the August primary election, and advanced into the general election for the at-large council position 2 against incumbent Richard Conlin, making her the first socialist to advance to a general election in Seattle since 1991.[24] On November 15, 2013, Conlin conceded to Sawant when returns showed him down by 1,640 votes or approximately 1% of the vote.[4][25]

Sawant's victory made her the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the School Board in 1916[4][5] and the first socialist on the City Council since A. W. Piper, elected in 1877.[26][27] She was sworn into office on January 6, 2014.[28]

Sawant on $15/hr National Day of Action in 2015

Sawant declared a victory in May 2014 after Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced an increase in the minimum wage to $15, which was the cornerstone of her campaign for City Council, but she is not pleased that large corporations will be allowed a few years to phase in the wage hike.[29] During a speech at the City Council on the day of the vote she said, "We did this. Workers did this. Today’s first major victory for 15 will inspire people all over the nation."[30]

Several Democrats endorsed her candidacy.[31] Celebrity endorsements included Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian.[32]

Sawant received no endorsements from sitting councilmembers, while Mike O'Brien expressed support of the idea of third party candidates but explicitly declining to extend an endorsement of Sawant.[33] The Stranger alt-weekly endorsed both her State House and her City Council candidacy.[34] Councilman Nick Licata also declined to endorse her but spoke positively of her campaign saying, "she has been able to craft a message that is understandable, simple and eschews most of the rhetoric", and when her eventual election victory seemed unlikely, he expressed his hope that Sawant would not "disappear after the election if she loses. She represents the poor, the immigrants, the refugees—the folks who are not in our City Council offices lobbying us."[35]

Tenure

During her campaign, Sawant said that, if elected, she would donate the portion of her salary as a City Council member that exceeded the average salary in Seattle.[36][37] On January 27, 2014, she announced that she would live on $40,000 of her $117,000 salary.[38] She places the rest into a political fund that she uses for social justice campaigns.[39] As of September 19, 2021, she cited her current city-allotted salary as $140,000, while she continues to take home $40,000 of that amount.[40]

Sawant called for the expansion of bus and light rail capacity with a millionaire's tax. She has also called for "transit justice", which would include free user fares; an increase in free transit services to the poor, especially communities in south Seattle; and restriction of transit options to communities that "can afford other options" until the foregoing measures are implemented.[23][41][42][43]

During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Sawant urged the Seattle City Council to condemn both Israel's attacks on Gaza and Hamas's attacks on Israel, and called on President Obama and Congress to denounce the Israeli blockade of Gaza and to cut off all military assistance to Israel.[44][45] Sawant's call to condemn Israel's actions prompted a response from Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, calling for Sawant to retract the statement.[46]

2015 election

The core issues of Sawant's campaign were a successful minimum wage increase to $15/hour, a successful "millionaire's tax" or income tax on wealthy Seattleites, and an unsuccessful rent control program.[24] Back during the 2013 campaign, Sawant had said rent control is "something everyone supports, except real estate developers and people like Richard Conlin" and compared the legal fight for its implementation to same-sex marriage, and the legalization of marijuana in the United States, both of which she supports.[23][41] Her campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage has been credited for bringing the issue into the mainstream and attracting support for the policy from both Seattle former Mayors Michael McGinn and Ed Murray.[47] In response to criticism that a $15 an hour minimum wage could hurt the economy, she said, "If making sure that workers get out of poverty would severely impact the economy, then maybe we don't need this economy."[39] She is also a supporter of expanding public transit and bikeways, ending corporate welfare, ending racial profiling, reducing taxes on small businesses and homeowners, protecting public sector unions from layoffs, living wage union jobs, and social services.[42]

Sawant's platform of non-local Seattle issues, like rent control, income tax, corporate welfare, supporting the minimum wage outside Seattle, in SeaTac, and other cities, and participating in the Seattle Arctic drilling protests drew criticism from Sawant's opponents and favor with her leftist supporters.[48] Her District 3 opponent Pamela Banks criticized Sawant's status as a national figure was a distraction from her primary duty to serve her constituents.[48] The Seattle Times, in their endorsement of Banks, said the City Council "isn't a job for an ideologue" and that "the District 3 seat is more than a podium", that it "needs a collaborative leader to work with other districts and balance resources and investment."[49] On April 7, 2015, journalist Chris Hedges endorsed Sawant.[50][51]

Sawant advanced through the primary election for City Council District 3 representative on August 4, 2015 with 52% of the vote, 18 percentage points ahead of her closest opponent, Pamela Banks at 34%.[52][53] Voters returned Sawant to the City Council and made her the first District 3 representative in November 2015, with 17,170 votes counted for Sawant and 13,427 for Banks, or 56% to 44%.[54] With incumbent O'Brien elected to District 6, and former Licata aide Lisa Herbold elected to District 1, they, along with Sawant, became the new progressive bloc of the Council, which became majority female with the addition of two other women, Debora Juarez and Lorena González.[55] Sawant, as one of the four people of color on the new Council, also became part of a younger and more diverse Council, the first to seat members by district in more than 100 years.[55]

2019 election

Main article: 2019 Seattle City Council election

In 2019, Sawant ran against Egan Orion, the head of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Capitol Hill.[56][57]

The 2019 Seattle City Council election gained national attention after Amazon spent an unprecedented $1.5 million on the campaign.[58] The company, which is the largest private employer in the city,[59] contributed the funds to a political action committee operated by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce which backs candidates the chamber considers to be more "business-friendly".[60] The PAC supported Sawant's opponent in the race. Amazon became increasingly involved in city council politics after the passage of the Seattle head tax in 2018, which would have cost the company $11 million annually in order to fund public housing and homeless services.[59][61] Shortly after enacting the tax, the city council voted 7–2 to repeal it, with Sawant being one of the two dissenters.[62]

On November 5, 2019, Sawant was elected to a third term on the Seattle City Council.[63]

2020–present

Precinct results of the 2021 Seattle City Council 3rd district recall election

Sawant and Mayor Jenny Durkan repeatedly clashed, and in June 2020, Sawant said that the mayor should resign.[64] In a letter to the Council president on June 30, 2020, Durkan asked the City Council to investigate Sawant under its city charter authority to punish members for "disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior," writing that Sawant had participated in a march to her home, knowing that her address "was protected under the state confidentiality program because of threats against me due largely to my work as U.S. Attorney."[64] The mayor accused Sawant and others of acting "with reckless disregard of the safety of my family and children."[64] Additionally, Sawant led protesters into Seattle City Hall, which was closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, on the evening of June 9, 2020.[65] Durkan also alleged that Sawant had used her council office to promote the "Tax Amazon" ballot initiative, urged protesters to occupy the East Precinct police station, and involved Socialist Alternative in her council office staffing decisions.[64] Durkan said that she respected policy disagreements with members, but that these disagreements, "do not justify a council member who potentially uses their position in violation of law or who recklessly undermines the safety of others, all for political theatre."[64] In response, Sawant accused Durkan of being the leader of a "pro-corporate political establishment" and of carrying out "an attack on working people's movements."[64]

In August 2020, petitioner Ernie Lou submitted a petition to the King County Elections Office to recall Sawant, which was allowed to proceed in a decision by the Washington Supreme Court on April 1, 2021.[66] Sawant responded by denying the charges in the petition and claiming that the recall effort was backed by right-wing billionaires.[67] The recall campaign was criticised by journalist Liza Featherstone, who characterised it as being controlled by "tech corporations, real estate interests, and business lobbyists".[68] In September 2021, the King County Elections Office set the recall election date for December 7.[69] Sawant's strategy for the recall election focused on driving up turnout among young voters, one of her core constituencies.[70] It was the first recall election held in Seattle since the 1975 recall election against Mayor Wesley C. Uhlman.[71] The results of the election were close, with Sawant overcoming the recall by 310 votes, which was 0.76% of the 41,033 votes cast. The turnout was 52.9%.[72][73]

On January 19, 2023, Sawant announced that she would retire from the city council at the end of the year, instead announcing that she would be launching Workers Strike Back, a national labor movement.[74]

Political positions

Sawant has advocated the nationalization of large Washington State corporations such as Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon[75] and expressed a desire to see privately owned housing in "Millionaire's Row" in the Capitol Hill neighborhood turned into publicly owned shared housing complex saying, "When things are exquisitely beautiful and rare, they shouldn't be privately owned."[76] During an election victory rally for her City Council campaign, Sawant criticized Boeing for saying it would move jobs out of state if it could not get wage concessions and tax breaks. She called this "economic terrorism" and said in several speeches that if the company moved jobs out of state, the workers should take over its facilities and bring them into public ownership. She has said they could be converted into multiple uses, such as production for buses.[77][78] Sawant maintains that a socialist economy cannot exist in a single country and must be a global system just as capitalism today is a global system.[79]

Sawant greeting students that are touring Seattle City Hall

Sawant opposed the construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel calling it "environmentally destructive" and "something most people were against, most environmental groups were against".[23]

She opposed the Seattle Public Schools Measures of Academic Progress test in public schools, and supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests.[42] Sawant has called for a revolt against student debt saying that "the laws of the rich are unenforceable if the working class refuses to obey those laws".[41] She is an active member of the American Federation of Teachers union[80] and has been critical of American labor union leadership, saying the leadership, "in the last 30 years has completely betrayed the working class. They are hand in glove with the Democratic Party, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into their campaigns, and they tell rank and file workers that you have to be happy with these crumbs". Sawant believes the American Labor movement should break with the Democratic Party and run grassroots left-wing candidates.[41]

Sawant advocates for a moratorium on deportations of undocumented immigrants from Seattle and granting unconditional citizenship for all persons currently in the United States without citizenship. She opposes the E-Verify system.[42][43][76]

Political ideology

Sawant is a member of Socialist Alternative, the United States section of the Trotskyist international organization the International Socialist Alternative, formerly the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).[41][80]

Sawant said she rejects working with either the Democratic or the Republican party and advocates abandoning the two-party system.[81] She has called for "a movement to break the undemocratic power of big business and build a society that works for working people, not corporate profits—a democratic socialist society."[82] In 2013, Sawant urged other left-wing groups, including Greens and trade unions, "to use her campaign as a model to inspire a much broader movement".[82]

On February 20, 2019 she published an article in Socialist Alternative backing Bernie Sanders' run for the Democratic nomination.[83] In 2020, she spoke at a campaign rally for him at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington.[84] She joined the Democratic Socialists of America in February 2021.[85]

Occupy movement

Sawant at Transgender Pride Day Proclamation

Before running for office, Sawant received attention as an organizer in the local Occupy movement.[12][24] She praised Occupy for putting "class," "capitalism," and "socialism" into the political debate.[41] After Occupy Seattle protesters were removed from Westlake Park by order of Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn, Sawant helped bring them to the Capitol Hill campus of Seattle Central Community College, where they remained for two months.[23] She joined with Occupy activists working with local organizations to resist home evictions and foreclosures, and was arrested with several Occupy activists including Dorli Rainey on July 31, 2012 for blocking King County Sheriff's deputies from evicting a man from his home.[86]

The Sawant state campaign criticized the raiding of Occupy Wall Street activists' homes by the Seattle Police Department's SWAT team.[87][88] She also advocated on LGBT, women's, and people of color issues, and opposed cuts to education and other social programs.[89] She gave a teach-in course at an all-night course at Seattle Central Community College.[90]

Civil disobedience

On November 19, 2014, Sawant was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct at a $15 minimum wage protest in SeaTac, Washington. She was released on $500 bail. On May 1, 2015, a SeaTac municipal court judge dismissed charges against her. The judge determined that testimony provided by police demonstrated that it was technically the police themselves, not protesters, who had blocked traffic.[91]

In a February 2017 article in the socialist magazine Jacobin, Sawant called for a "wave of protests and strikes" on May Day, including "workplace actions as well a mass peaceful civil disobedience that shuts down highways, airports, and other key infrastructure".[92] Her statement was controversial: Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that it was "unfortunate and perhaps even tragic for an elected official to encourage people to confront and engage in confrontations with the police department" and the Washington State Patrol called the writings "irresponsible" and "reckless".[93]

In June 2020, Sawant was criticized by the Trotskyist World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) for supposedly working "along politically harmless channels by promoting illusions in local police reform" and for promoting "the anarchistic commune" known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).[94] Following a June 20 shooting in the zone that left one man dead and another critically wounded,[95] Sawant said there were "indications that this may have been a right-wing attack," for which President Trump would bear "direct responsibility, since he has fomented reactionary hatred specifically against the peaceful Capitol Hill occupation".[96][97][98] Two days later, The Seattle Times reported, Sawant "walked back her unfounded claim that the shooting 'may have been a right-wing attack.' She now says that appears to be incorrect".[99]

Personal life

Sawant is often reticent about her personal life and background, preferring to stick to political issues. She has said that her entire family remains in India with her mother currently residing in Bangalore.[11] During her 2013 campaign for the Seattle City Council, she indicated that she and her husband Vivek Sawant, had been separated for nearly six years.[15] In 2014, Sawant and Calvin Priest, a Seattle Socialist Alternative organizer, purchased a home together in the Leschi neighborhood.[100] In 2016, Sawant took time off to be out of the country for their wedding.[100] Kshama became a United States citizen in 2010.[101]

Electoral history

Graph of the 2015 City Council election, with size of circle showing number of votes cast and angle of pies showing percentage in each race.[102]
Washington House of Representatives, District 43b, General Election, 2012[103]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Frank Chopp 49,125 70.6% −16.2%
Socialist Alternative Kshama Sawant 20,425 29.4% N/A
Majority 28,700
Turnout 69,550
City of Seattle, City Council, Position 2, 2013[104]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Kshama Sawant 93,682 50.7% N/A
Nonpartisan politician Richard Conlin 90,531 49.0% −28.3%
Write-ins 665 0.4% nil
Majority 3,151
Turnout 184,878
City of Seattle, City Council, District 3, 2015[54]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Kshama Sawant 17,170 56.0%
Nonpartisan Pamela Banks 13,427 43.8%
Nonpartisan Write-ins 87 0.3%
Majority 3,743
Turnout 31,613
City of Seattle, City Council, District 3, 2019[105]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Kshama Sawant 22,263 51.8%
Nonpartisan Egan Orion 20,488 47.7%
Nonpartisan Write-ins 205 0.5%
Majority 1,775
Turnout 42,956
December 7, 2021 Recall Election of Kshama Sawant[73]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan NO 20,656 50.38%
Nonpartisan YES 20,346 49.62%
Majority 310
Turnout 41,033 52.9

References

  1. ^ November 1, 2013. 'How do you pronounce your first and last names?' Archived August 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. reddit.
  2. ^ a b Kshama Sawant (April 23, 2009). "Elderly Labor Supply in a Rural, Less Developed Economy: An Empirical Study. (Graduate thesis)" (PDF). North Carolina State University. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  3. ^ Scigliano, Eric (November 6, 2013). "Disenchantment and dismay - unless you're Kshama Sawant". Crosscut. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Connelly, Joel (November 14, 2013). "Socialist Sawant wins City Council seat". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Seattle elects first socialist City Council member Archived November 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. KING 5. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  6. ^ Taylor, Sarah Grace; Beekman, Daniel (January 19, 2023). "Kshama Sawant will not seek reelection to Seattle City Council". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "Socialist in Seattle: City councilor expects not to be a rarity for long". america.aljazeera.com.
  8. ^ "How to defeat the world's richest person". Mumbai Mirror.
  9. ^ IANS (November 19, 2013). "Seattle elects first socialist in Indian-American Kshama Sawant". Business Standard.
  10. ^ Cedar Burnett (November 25, 2013). "Socialist in Seattle: City councilor expects not to be a rarity for long". Al Jazeera.
  11. ^ a b c Maria La Ganga (November 20, 2013). "Socialist to occupy Seattle City Council". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d Lewis Kamb (August 11, 2013). "Growing wealth gap spurs on socialist in Seattle council race". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  13. ^ PTI (November 19, 2013). "Indian-origin Kshama Sawant elected to Seattle City Council". The Economic Times.
  14. ^ "Seattle's new socialist on City Council lets fly in inauguration speech". FOX13 News | Seattle & Western Washington | Formerly Q13 News. January 6, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Rob Mackay, [1] Archived July 10, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, KCPQ (January 6, 2014).
  16. ^ Clark, Robert L. (March 27, 2003). "Financial Education and Retirement Savings" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  17. ^ "About Kshama". Seattle City Council. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  18. ^ Socialist Alternative (November 12, 2012). "Socialist wins 29% of the vote". Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  19. ^ Clark, Robert L.; d'Ambrosio, Madeleine B.; McDermed, Ann A.; Sawant, Kshama (March 2006), "Retirement Plans And Saving Decisions: The Role Of Information And Education" (PDF), Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 5 (1), Cambridge University Press: 45–67, doi:10.1017/S1474747205002271, S2CID 154468651, archived (PDF) from the original on July 13, 2018, retrieved January 25, 2017
  20. ^ "A battle over Amazon? Sawant vs. Orion in their own words on District 3 issues - housing, homelessness, public safety, and the environment". Capitolhillseattle.com. October 31, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  21. ^ a b c d "Washington socialist candidate wins suit to state party preference". OregonLive.com. Associated Press. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  22. ^ "Legislative District 43 : Rep Position 2". King County Elections. State Legislative Races Results, November 2012 General Election. November 28, 2012. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  23. ^ a b c d e "KEXP interview with Kshama Sawant". KEXP-FM. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  24. ^ a b c Manuel Valdes (November 16, 2013). "Socialist Kshama Sawant wins Seattle City Council seat". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  25. ^ Martha Kang and Manuel Valdes (November 16, 2013). "Conlin Concedes to Socialist Sawant in Seattle Council Race". KNKX.org. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  26. ^ Dorpat, Paul (January 1, 1999), Now & Then – Seattle's Front Street (now 1st Avenue); Essay 2585, HistoryLink, archived from the original on December 12, 2019, retrieved November 20, 2013
  27. ^ Stripling, Sherry (August 15, 2004), "Coming home to Carkeek – Carkeek Park, celebrating its 75th birthday, has seen some hard times. But thanks to dogged supporters, it is a refuge for nature, and nature lovers, in the city", The Seattle Times, archived from the original on December 2, 2013, retrieved November 21, 2013
  28. ^ "Socialist sworn in as Seattle city council member". USA Today. Associated Press. January 6, 2016. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  29. ^ Buxton, Ryan (May 1, 2014). "Kshama Sawant, Seattle City Councilwoman: McDonald's Doesn't Need Time To Phase In $15 Minimum Wage". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  30. ^ "Speech by City Councilmember Sawant on $15 Victory". Socialist Alternative. June 3, 2014. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  31. ^ Deborah Wang (October 30, 2013). "Activist Democrats Support Socialist Candidate Kshama Sawant". KUOW-FM. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  32. ^ Matt Driscoll. "Sawant Lands Tom Morello/Serj Tankian 'Axis of Justice' Endorsement". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  33. ^ Matt Driscoll. "Mike O'Brien Expected to Make 'Significant Statement' In Support of Sawant". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  34. ^ Stranger Election Control Board (July 17, 2012). "Endorsements for the August 7 Primary Election". The Stranger. Vote or We'll Kill You. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  35. ^ Isolde Raftery. "Why Socialist Kshama Sawant's Campaign Matters, Win Or Lose". KUOW-FM. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  36. ^ Palash Ghosh (October 16, 2013). "Kshama Sawant: A Socialist, Indian-American Woman Running For Seattle City Council... And She May Win". International Business Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  37. ^ Young, Bob (August 6, 2013). "For Seattle council: Conlin against Sawant, O'Brien against Shen". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  38. ^ Jeff Black (January 27, 2014). Seattle's Socialist councilwoman to accept less than half of $117K salary Archived January 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. NBC News. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  39. ^ a b Kevin Roose. "Meet the Seattle Socialist Leading the Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  40. ^ Council Connection (September 19, 2021). Councilmember Sawant: We Must All Back the Courageous Carpenters Strike Archived September 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Council Connection. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  41. ^ a b c d e f "Kshama Sawant Speech at Vote Sawant election night party 11/6/2012". Socialist Alternative.
  42. ^ a b c d "Sawant Campaign Issues Page". votesawant.org.
  43. ^ a b Kshama Sawant (July 27, 2012). "What Our Campaign Stands For". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on July 27, 2012.
  44. ^ ""They don't have the courage": How the two-party system aided Israel disaster". Salon.com. August 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  45. ^ Connelly, Joel (August 13, 2014), "War in Gaza: Israel takes fire from two Seattle City Council members", Seattle P-I, archived from the original on December 18, 2014, retrieved December 18, 2014
  46. ^ "Ambassador of Israel to US says Seattle's Kshama Sawant will have to retract statements". MyNorthwest.com – Blog. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  47. ^ Ross Reynolds and David Hyde (November 18, 2013). "Kshama Sawant Is A Socialist But What Does That Even Mean?". KUOW. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  48. ^ a b Connelly, Joel (October 5, 2015), "Kshama Sawant vs. Pamela Banks: Grandiose designs vs. local grounding", Seattle P-I, archived from the original on January 27, 2016, retrieved January 27, 2016
  49. ^ Seattle Times editorial board (July 9, 2015), "The Times recommends: Pamela Banks in Seattle City Council District No. 3", The Seattle Times
  50. ^ Kiley, Brendan (June 6, 2015) A Quick Interview With Journalist Chris Hedges Archived July 12, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. The Stranger.
  51. ^ Connelly, Joel (June 7, 2015) Kshama Sawant: I represent "aspirations of tens of thousands of people" Archived July 12, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. June 7, 2015
  52. ^ "The Data Platform for 21st Century Digital Government". Socrata, Inc. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  53. ^ "Election: Seattle's Sawant gets strong primary vote; incumbent Godden may be in trouble". August 5, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  54. ^ a b King County (November 24, 2015). "Election Results" (PDF). p. 45. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  55. ^ a b Beekman, Daniel (December 18, 2015), Younger, more diverse Seattle City Council likely to bring changes, archived from the original on February 16, 2021, retrieved January 28, 2016
  56. ^ "These Seattle City Council candidates want Kshama Sawant's seat". Crosscut.com. April 9, 2019. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  57. ^ "Capitol Hill leader Egan Orion challenges Sawant in D3 race". MyNorthwest. April 2, 2019. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  58. ^ Beekman, Daniel; Brunner, Jim (October 15, 2019). "Amazon drops additional $1 million-plus into Seattle City Council races, with ballots out this week". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  59. ^ a b Read, Richard (November 7, 2019). "Amazon spends big in attempt to defeat socialist City Council member in Seattle election". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  60. ^ Johnson, Gene (November 6, 2019). "Amazon's spending in Seattle Council races doesn't deliver". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  61. ^ Johnson, Gene (October 29, 2019). "Amazon Spends $1 Million to Remake Seattle's Liberal City Council". Time. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  62. ^ Johnson, Eric M. (June 12, 2018). "Seattle City Council repeals 'head tax' weeks after enactment". Reuters. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  63. ^ Golden, Hallie (November 9, 2019). "Blow to Amazon as Seattle socialist looks to have triumphed in key vote". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  64. ^ a b c d e f Beekman, Daniel (June 30, 2020). "Durkan asks Seattle City Council to investigate Sawant for 'contemptuous' behavior". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  65. ^ "Seattle protesters enter City Hall calling for change and mayor's resignation". king5.com. June 10, 2020. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  66. ^ "Kshama Sawant recall, Seattle, Washington (2020-2021)". Ballotpedia. March 16, 2021.
  67. ^ "Seattle man claims he was fired for launching recall effort against Councilmember Kshama Sawant". Fox News.
  68. ^ Featherstone, Liza (April 7, 2021). "Defend Kshama Sawant". Jacobin. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  69. ^ "Recall vote for Seattle City Council's Kshama Sawant set for December 7". KOMO News. September 29, 2021.
  70. ^ Silverstein, Richard (December 10, 2021). "Seattle's Capitalists Couldn't Defeat Kshama Sawant". Jacobin. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  71. ^ "Sawant recall campaign in full swing and Noam Chomsky has a bit role". Puget Sound Business Journal. November 18, 2021. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  72. ^ Taylor, Sarah Grace (December 16, 2021). "Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant defeats recall effort". Seattle Times.
  73. ^ a b "Election Results" (PDF). December 17, 2021.
  74. ^ Sawant, Kshama (January 19, 2023). "Why I'm Not Running Again for City Council". The Stranger. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  75. ^ Atkins, Drew (September 2, 2015). "Q&A: Councilmember Sawant on public broadband and a socialist Microsoft". Crosscut. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  76. ^ a b Sarah Stuteville (October 30, 2012). "You might be a socialist if... An interview with Kshama Sawant". Seattle Globalist.
  77. ^ Gary Horcher (November 19, 2013). "Seattle City Councilmember-elect shares radical idea with Boeing workers". KIRO-TV. Archived from the original on November 22, 2013.
  78. ^ Chris Legeros (November 18, 2013). "Longshot winner of Seattle City Council seat warns of struggle ahead". KIRO-TV.
  79. ^ Josh Eidelson (November 18, 2013). "Capitalism is a "dirty word": America's new socialist council member talks to Salon". Salon. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  80. ^ a b Socialist Alternative. "Speech: Relevance of Socialism in Seattle today". YouTube.
  81. ^ Matt Taylor (April 28, 2014). Is Seattle's Socialist City Council Member Going to Show Us How to Ditch the Two-Party System? Archived April 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Vice. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  82. ^ Sawant, Kshama (February 20, 2019). "Let's Use Bernie's 2020 Campaign to Launch a Mass Working Class Fightback". Socialist Alternative. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  83. ^ Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant introducing Bernie Sanders at a rally on Monday, retrieved April 10, 2020
  84. ^ Mullen, Keely (February 26, 2021). "Why I'm Joining Democratic Socialists of America". Socialist Alternative. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  85. ^ Rosenthal, Brian M. (July 31, 2012). "Council hopeful Sawant arrested during anti-eviction protest". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  86. ^ "Police Raid Occupy Seattle Activists' Apartment - Tell Seattle Mayor McGinn to stop the political repression!". Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  87. ^ "Police serve warrant in May Day investigation - Local". MyNorthwest.com. July 10, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  88. ^ "The Student Debt Explosion: The New Indentured Servitude?". OlyBlog. February 27, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  89. ^ "Occupy Capitol Hill | All-night 'teach in' at Seattle Central | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle". Capitolhillseattle.com. October 30, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  90. ^ Daniel Beekman (May 2015). "SeaTac judge tosses case against Kshama Sawant, 2 others". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  91. ^ Kshama Sawant, Why We Should Strike on May Day, Jacobin (February 21, 2017).
  92. ^ Steve Kiggins, [2] Archived February 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, KCPQ (April 27, 2017).
  93. ^ Patron, Julio; Costa, Kayla (June 19, 2020). "Socialist Alternative's Kshama Sawant promotes local police reform, Democratic Party politics". World Socialist Web Site. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  94. ^ Gutman, David; Kiley, Brendan; Furfaro, Hannah; Carter, Mike (June 20, 2020). "After early morning shooting in CHOP, occupied area returns to its new normal". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  95. ^ Frizzelle, Christopher; Smith, Rich (June 20, 2020). "One Dead, One in Critical Condition After Shooting at CHOP at 2:20 am". The Stranger. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  96. ^ Oxley, Dyer (June 21, 2020). "Updates on protests for racial justice in the Seattle area (June 15–21)". KUOW-FM. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  97. ^ Sawant, Kshama (June 20, 2020). "Statement on the Shooting at the Capitol Hill Organized Protest". City of Seattle. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  98. ^ Gutman, David; Brodeur, Nicole (June 22, 2020). "Seattle will phase down CHOP at night, police will return to East Precinct, Durkan says". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  99. ^ a b "Where is Kshama? Getting married". Capitolhillseattle.com. August 16, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  100. ^ Rosenthal, Brian M. "Richard Conlin making issue of Kshama Sawant's voter registration". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  101. ^ November 3 General Election results Archived February 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine published by King County Elections, certified November 24, 2015
  102. ^ "Washington House of Representatives elections, 2012". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  103. ^ King County (November 26, 2013). "Election Results" (PDF). p. 46. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  104. ^ "Election Results". November 8, 2019. Archived from the original on November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kshama Sawant.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Kshama Sawant.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Kshama_Sawant&oldid=1202870159"