The effort to recall Seattle council member Kshama Sawant fell in Wednesday’s vote tally, with 50.3% of voters counted agreeing to remove her.
The election took place on Tuesday, with the recall campaign winning 53% of the votes counted that day. With Wednesday’s tally, Sawant reduced the difference to just 246 votes out of 39,274.
King County Elections Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson said on Wednesday the county estimates there are about 1,200 ballots left to count Thursday and 656 more ballots with signature issues that could be addressed and added to the count until ‘as of December 16, bringing the overall turnout to just over 53%.
Sawant, first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2015, represents the people of District 3, including Capitol Hill, the Central District, First Hill, Madison Park, Little Saigon, Madrona, and Mount Baker. She was re-elected in 2019 for a term that was due to end in 2023.
Now, Sawant is battling to complete that term during a Seattle council member’s very first recall to go to a poll.
She faces three charges, brought by a group of voters and unanimously approved by the state’s Supreme Court, which does not determine the accuracy of the charges in reminders.
Sawant is accused of spending city resources to support a voting initiative proposed by Tax Amazon and of acting in violation of public disclosure requirements related to such spending. In May, she settled with the Seattle Elections and Ethics Commission for $ 3,516, double the amount she spent on the violation.
Sawant is also accused of defying COVID-19 security orders by unlocking city hall to hundreds of protesters during the racial justice protests in Seattle in June 2020. Sawant confirms that it has opened the hotel de ville but says he hasn’t broken any laws.
Additionally, Sawant is accused of leading a march to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s home, although Durkan’s address is protected by a state privacy program due to his past work as a federal prosecutor. Sawant admits and was recorded participating in the march, but says she was not involved in organizing the event.
Sawant’s supporters view his activism as good leadership.
Logan Swan, a Beacon Hill resident and ironworker, said on Tuesday that he has supported Sawant since her first campaign because she does what he expects of a leader, including participating in the activism that brought her to a reminder bulletin.
“If you say you represent me, you should sue employers who steal wages. You have to lead the movements. You should help us organize ourselves, â€Swan said outside the Sawant Solidarity Campaign party. “And I don’t see anyone else in town doing that.”
Reminder Campaign manager and Sawant chairman Henry Bridger II said on Tuesday evening that he was not worried about the results of the counting of the votes in favor of Sawant in the following days, as he believed the early results were the feeling of the district.
Sawant – who in 2019 increased his support over the following days of the vote count, ultimately overtaking his challenger who led with an almost identical lead on election night – predicted his renewed support on Tuesday.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
