Everything Is Political … in South Seattle: Moore Steps Away, Sawant Steps In

Unexpected Resignation

On June 2, District 5 Councilmember Cathy Moore called it quits, writing in a surprise announcement that she would be resigning in July "due to some recent health challenges."

This brings the City Council's resignation count to three in less than two years, after former District 8 Councilmember Teresa Mosquera won the 2023 election to the King County Council and former District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales resigned, citing a toxic work environment.

While many draw a connection between the catastrophic failure of Moore's ethics bill, which she pulled from consideration on May 30, and her resignation, the language she and her fellow councilmembers have used suggests she's not invoking her health as a smokescreen. District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, for example, issued a statement wishing Moore "plenty of rest, positive health outcomes and peace on the other side of the dias."

While I made it clear I thought the ethics bill was bad and cynical and a barely disguised ploy to push through policy at the behest of the real estate-and-development lobby, I enjoyed meeting Moore when I interviewed her for Real Change. I wish her nothing but the best in her return to private life. Good call pulling the bill, but more importantly: Get well soon!

Council President Sara Nelson, whose statement on Moore's resignation included ample praise of Moore's work but exactly zero words of sympathy, closed that statement by reminding Seattleites of the 20-day window council has to replace a resigning councilmember. That window will open on July 8.

Another Thing We Did Not See Coming

On June 2, former District 3 Councilmember Kshama Sawant set up a press conference in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building downtown to announce her reentry into politics. And what a reentrance.

Sawant, a loudly pro-Palestine, anti-war Socialist Alternative member, announced she will be challenging Rep. Adam Smith (D-9), a deeply entrenched, center-right Democrat who is as tangled up as you can get with America's weapons industry and pro-Israel lobby, for his seat in Washington's 9th Congressional District. Now, this is not the first time Smith has faced a challenge from the left, but it could very well be the last for him. In all previous contests, when fellow Democrats beat out his beleaguered Republican challenger Doug Basler, they were new or newer politicians with little name recognition.

Sawant, on the other hand, has all the name recognition in the world, even if a lot of it comes in the form of notoriety. She's also a fiery speaker with an incredible command of political theater. 

As evidenced by last week's impromptu sit-in protest of the City Council's erstwhile ethics bill, she's still got it. Now, she's going to bring it to bear on Smith, who has spent his recent days touring around scolding Democrats for not shifting rightward to appease Trump voters. Sawant will have a field day with that. Hell, she already did, spending a solid chunk of her speech calling him out for cozying up to the right. Noting that, during President George W. Bush's administration, Smith ran the same playbook he's running now — urging Democrats to move closer to Republicans in order to appeal to voters — she wasted no words casting him as an enemy of progress.

"We aren't going to stop right-wing attacks and defeat Trump by staying silent and allowing Democrats like Adam Smith to remain in power," she said. "We need to use every tool available to us: mass protest, strike action, civil disobedience, and independent election campaigns like the one I am announcing here today to defeat warmongers and corporate politicians like Adam Smith."

However, all that moral clarity may not be enough to punch through the messaging that hundreds of thousands of dollars of defense industry and AIPAC donations will buy for Smith, who has held his seat since 1997. Regardless, it will be interesting to see him work for it for a change.

That said, he's not exactly quaking in his boots. In a statement emailed to the Emerald, he went straight for the throat:

"Few people did more to help Donald Trump return to the White House than Kshama Sawant. Sawant actively campaigned against Vice President Kamala Harris—undermining the effort to defeat Trump in 2024. I have constantly fought against Donald Trump and the devastating policies he is forcing on the American people.

"Her record on the Seattle City Council is defined by extreme, divisive tactics and policies that left lasting harm.

"Voters in Washington's 9th Congressional District deserve thoughtful, effective leadership focused on real results—not ideological stunts. This election will offer a clear contrast, and I look forward to the challenge."

Read My Lips: No Balanced Budget

In response to Gov. Bob Ferguson approving a budget package that would, as required by state law, balance the state budget, a "hard-working, middle-class taxpayer and gas station worker" named Shannon Soderlund has launched a Change.org petition to get ol' Ferg recalled. Who knows Soderlund's personal politics, but given statements to right-wing radio host Jason Rantz, I feel confident saying this thing is coming from Ferguson's right flank.

"Governor Ferguson campaigned on making life more affordable," the petition says, concluding that "he betrayed us. Enough is enough. Sign my petition to recall Governor Bob Ferguson and remove him from office for his misfeasance."

The campaign made news when it garnered 37,000 signatures, but is now up to almost 61,000. What it elides, of course, when it accuses Ferguson of signing "a ridiculous budget that raises taxes on the people of Washington by $9 billion," is that the deficit Ferguson was facing at the beginning of the budget cycle was $16 billion.

I know that political theater, which this petition is a classic example of, is sometimes about facts, but let's not dispense with them entirely. Our state's lawmakers must pass a balanced budget. Facing revenue shortfalls and rapidly disappearing federal funding, they've got basically two options: austerity or new taxes. In crafting this budget, they used both.

As a spokesperson for Ferguson told The Spokesman-Review, "The budgets represent a balanced approach that protects core services and adopts billions in cuts and efficiencies, while making important investments in housing and K–12 education."

It's funny. All of us lefty Seattleites are mad at him because, to protect those core services, he backed off of actually taxing the rich and opted for regressive tax revenue, while all of the state's rural and exurban right-wingers are mad because he is balancing the budget "off the backs of hardworking families and business owners."

Does anyone think maybe we're all saying the same thing? We all want a government that provides essential services. We want to meet the cost of providing those services without unduly burdening the working class, who are already bearing the brunt of the country's tax burden.

The author of this petition might not realize it, but unless they're eager to defund education and drive over even more pockmarked roads, what they want is for us to tax the rich. Now, Ferguson loudly refused to do that, so I'd say they still have every right to be mad. Just for the right reasons, please!