Updates on other significant 2021 campaigns in Seattle

Jul 27, 2021
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Written by wpengine
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Beyond the Mayor’s race, Seattle voters have several other matters on the 2021 ballot:

At-large Council Seats

In Position 8, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is seeking her first reelection to the Council and is expected to win this race in a runaway. No significant challengers filed against her, which is not surprising given her strong political skills.

Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez is relinquishing her at-large Position 9 to run for mayor, leading to a spirited campaign to replace her. The three leading candidates are:

Sara Nelson, a former Council staffer and co-founder of Fremont Brewing. Sara was recruited by the Seattle Chamber to run in an open at-large seat in 2017. Despite her late entry, she finished a close third in a race ultimately won by Teresa Mosqueda. This time, Sara was the first candidate to announce.

With strong support from the business community, Nelson has raised over $100,000 and just received the endorsement of The Seattle Times. Sara has also picked up endorsements from several building and construction trades unions.

A self-described “creative, community organizer, abolitionist, educator, and attorney,” Nikkita Oliver finished a close third in the 2017 mayoral primary. Oliver supports much larger cuts in the police budget, shifting the spending to “address the root causes of harm, invest in culturally responsive community-led care solutions, and stop punishing people for the failures of the system.” She is firmly in the left lane of this Position 9 race. Here is her endorsement by The Stranger.

The third candidate, Brianna Thomas, is also a past candidate for City Council, finishing fourth in a 2015 campaign for the 1st council district. Currently chief of staff to Council President Lorena Gonzalez, Thomas is positioning herself as the “centrist” candidate between the “progressive, pragmatic” Nelson and Oliver.

Sawant Recall

The campaign to recall Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant has cleared all legal challenges and is now collecting signatures of Council District 3 voters. While the campaign hoped to place the recall question on the August primary ballot, that train has left the station. Now, they hope to have the recall on the November general election ballot. Strangely, CM Sawant held a rally during which SHE signed the recall petition and pledged to help collect signatures. At this point, she views the recall campaign as an opportunity to prove her political clout in the 3rd district.