A total of 56 candidates are campaigning to square off in the November general election for seven open seats on the Seattle City Council, according to King County Elections records.

The candidates have filed to compete in the August 6 primary. The primary will determine two finalists for each of the seven races to be decided in the November 5 general election. The council makeup includes two at-large seats on the nine-member body.

Washington Retail plans to distribute questionnaires to all the candidates to obtain indications of their positions on issues of importance to retailers large and small. WR also plans interviews with candidates as the campaigns unfold.

Click here to review’s WR’s candidate tracker that includes background on the declared candidates and incumbents. Besides the winnowing out of challengers, the fates of incumbents Lisa Herbold, Debora Juarez and Kshama Sawant also will be decided in the primary.

Washington Retail will be supporting the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE) to elect more pro-business candidates to the Seattle council. A series of regulations approved under current council membership has caused concern or been opposed by Washington Retail for their threats to business viability in Seattle.

A Seattle Times columnist recently reported that socialist or socialist-leaning candidates in some cases are keeping pace with incumbents in financial resources, including the war chest of the Seattle Chamber. That column is here.

Sources include King County Elections, Seattle Times