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Election Night count tallies an Orion lead in the ‘OK’ zone, Sawant trailing but ‘within range’
(Image: Alex Garland for CHS)
With reporting by Margo Vansynghel, Jake Goldstein-Street, and Alex Garland
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The first count in the race for the District 3 was anything but definitive but challenger Egan Orion opened up Election Night 2019 with an eight-point lead over incumbent Kshama Sawant.
At Orion’s party held at Pike/Pine’s Sole Repair, the early crowd included his family, supporters, and Uncle Ike’s owner Ian Eisenberg.
“Thousands of voters have talked to me at the doors and they know who I am,” Orion told CHS Tuesday night.
“I know Kshama would like this to be a contest between her and Amazon, but at the end of the day, she’s got me. And I’ve got a really long record of engaging with the community and really getting things done,” he said as someone handed him a BETO for President hat.
“What went well in the campaign? Well, number one that I wasn’t Kshama Sawant,” Orion said earlier in the night before the first count. Orion said he felt only a “9 or 10 point” lead would be really comfortable, given later batches will favor Sawant. 7 or 8 percentage points? That could be OK. But “5 or 6 is like hah,” Orion said, making a distressed sound.
“[Voters] want to see someone that’s accomplished, that’s not too far afield from Kshama and her values and so I think the voters see me as someone that can take those values and get things done,” he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered for the first ballot results with the Sawant campaign in the Central District at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute — the scene of Sawant’s Primary Election Night triumph this summer. When the Election Night results hit, the music stopped and then restarted and subdued conversations began. “Within range, within range,” one Sawant fan reassured another supporter.
Continue reading
Election Day 2019 notes: Capitol Hill ballot box stuffed, District 3 parties, Sawant campaign calls for extra time
Have you voted yet? Turn in your ballot at the conveniently located ballot box located on the north side of campus. #myseattlecentral #electionday pic.twitter.com/ahe7CNzhGS
— Seattle Central College (@SeattleCentral) November 5, 2019
As the final hours of the 2019 General Election campaigns are playing out, ballot boxes are overflowing, parties are being planned, and one candidate is asking for overtime. Here are a few notes from Election Day 2019 on Capitol Hill.
- Drop box overflowing: King County Elections says it is doing what it can to keep the Capitol Hill drop box clear for more ballots after waves of voters have continued to fill the Broadway receptacle in front of Seattle Central College to the brim. Workers are on hand to help out. You can also drop your ballot in the Central District at the Garfield Community Center as 23rd and Cherry. A map of the King County drop boxes can be found here.
- Extra time? The Sawant campaign Tuesday morning responded to the stuffed ballot box issue with a call for King County Elections to extend voting until 10 PM. Ballots are required to be turned in by 8 PM:
Voters trying to vote before work may have to go to other boxes. With Amazon trying to buy this election, working people should have every chance to vote! If you can, please call the King County Elections Board to demand an extension of all dropbox hours till 10:00pm: 206-296-8683 Continue reading
DISTRICT 3 GET OUT THE VOTE: phone banking, text banking, and Sawant canvassers vs. Orion canvassers on the streets of D3
Sawant volunteers gathered Saturday in Cal Anderson for “get out the vote” efforts (Image: Vote Sawant)
Phone banking for Orion (Image: Egan for Seattle)
It would be ironic if the uber expensive, cash and digital advertising-infused, about as dirty as Seattle political fighting gets District 3 race came down to an old-fashioned “get out the vote” push but that didn’t stop both campaigns duking it out until Tuesday’s 8 PM ballot deadline from rolling out a busy weekend of action across Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods.
As pamphlet after pamphlet and canvasser after canvasser spread across the neighborhoods, incumbent Kshama Sawant and challenger Egan Orion continued to draw national attention as they battle in a contentious and costly race that serves in many ways as a microcosm for the rest of the city.
For Sawant, the push meant a Saturday morning rally at Capitol Hill’s Chop Suey with what the campaign said were over 160 volunteers that then spent the afternoon at 20 stations across the neighborhood they see as a hub of untapped voters for their Socialist Alternative incumbent fighting for her political life.
One organizer said that only 13% of the Capitol Hill Sawant supporters they’ve identified had voted just three days before the election.
“There are literally thousands of people out there that we need to reach,” Sawant said Saturday. “Many of our people haven’t voted yet, so this weekend is extremely crucial.”
Orion’s campaign was similarly trying to reach voters on North Capitol Hill when CHS visited its 21st and Union office Saturday afternoon. Continue reading
A battle over Amazon? Sawant vs. Orion in their own words on District 3 issues — housing, homelessness, public safety, and the environment
The night of the August Primary as early results pointed to a Kshama Sawant vs. Egan Orion showdown, CHS predicted the race for District 3 would be a battle over Amazon.
Three months later, it is impossible to separate the campaigns from the dollars as millions are being spent.
CHS is not going to try to tell you that money is not the story of the race. But there are other stories to tell.
With ballots finally being filled in and dropped in the final days of the race, here is a look at the District 3 candidates using their own words and positions. Remember the actions, intentions, and promises as the dollars are totaled, the votes are counted, and, eventually, when one of the combatants takes the D3 chair. Continue reading
Starbucks hosting ‘Wake Up and Vote’ event at Central District cafe
Seattle’s online retail giant Amazon has added its heavy mark to its home city’s democratic process. Starbucks is taking a lighter but more vocal approach.
Monday, the day before ballots are due on November 5th, the coffee giant is hosting “Wake Up and Vote” events at 10 of its area shops including a location in District 3.
Additionally, the company said its vice president John Kelly sent a letter to “thousands of Seattle-area partners” detailing how “Starbucks has experienced the impact of the city’s public safety decline first-hand” and linking to the controversial report that sparked the “Seattle is Dying” backlash.
The announcement of the events included an excerpt from Kelly’s message to employees: Continue reading
Di$trict 3: $500/month for a Central District office? Campaign supplies from Amazon? Why did Sawant pay more than Orion for similar ad?
With only one more week to go before ballot drop boxes close at 8 PM on Election Day, we don’t have any results on who leads in D3 yet — be sure to check in here for updates on Tuesday.
What’s sure, meanwhile, is that District 3 is currently leading among other districts. With over 10,000 ballots returned, the District is again out in the lead for voter turnout among Seattle’s seven districts. And, with a total of $1,247,788 raised between incumbent Kshama Sawant and challenger Egan Orion, D3 also leads as the most expensive and, currently, only million-dollar race in the city.
No, CHS won’t theorize about the potential correlation. Instead, we’ll take a look at some fresh numbers on spending from the campaigns and PACs, as well as an update on complaints against Orion’s campaign with the State’s Public Disclosure Commission. But first, let’s start with a poll.
New poll likely cost a lot… but what does it say? On Monday, CASE, the political arm from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, sent out results from a new district-level poll conducted by EMC Research between October 17 and October 24. It’s not clear how much this specific poll cost, but according to PDC filings, CASE has paid EMC Research nearly $240,000 for polling/research during the campaign, which includes a recent expenditure of $14,800 — so it’s safe to say this poll was not cheap. Continue reading
In Africatown ‘showdown,’ Sawant and Orion trade blows over who shows up — and who calls each campaign’s shots
Stills from Africatown Seattle’s video of Friday’s forum
Tensions have been building in District 3’s Seattle City Council race for months.
After a recent forum, candidate Egan Orion even texted CHS: “Gloves are off.”
This friction was only intensified after Amazon’s recent $1 million contribution to the business-friendly Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee, which has endorsed Orion over Socialist Alternative incumbent Kshama Sawant.
In recent days, Sawant has been able to earn the support of fellow progressive city council members who had been reluctant to endorse her due in part to her sometimes polarizing governing tactics. The tech giant’s heavy-handed spending has apparently changed their minds.
These tensions spilled over into a Friday night forum — just a week and a half from election day — at the Central Area Senior Center as Sawant and Orion swapped jabs on their attendance records and the sources of their support: the chamber for Orion and the national network of Socialist Alternative for Sawant. Continue reading
Response to Amazon cash helps Sawant secure key new allies — her fellow council members
González, Sawant, Mosqueda, and Morales at Thursday’s protest (Image: @TeresaCMosqueda)
It is too early to say if Amazon’s massive injections of cash into Seattle City Council races has backfired but it has helped District 3 incumbent Kshama Sawant earn a key victory she had so far failed to win on her own in her battle against challenger Egan Orion — the support of her fellow council members.
Friday morning, Sawant’s campaign made the official announcement of key endorsements for the Socialist Alternative candidate from the council’s two citywide representatives — Teresa Mosqueda and Lorena González.
“It is critical that progressives and socialists are uniting against big business and their blatant attempt to buy the elections,” Sawant said in a statement on the endorsements. “We stand together in saying that Seattle is not for sale! These corporate interests don’t just want to defeat me and other progressive candidates like Shaun Scott and Tammy Morales, they want to roll back the historic victories working people have won in Seattle, like the $15/hour minimum wage, the hotel workers bill of rights, and our landmark renters rights policies.”
The move from Mosqueda and González follows their appearance Thursday with Sawant at a protest outside the Amazon Spheres against the company’s decision to pump some $1.5 million into the downtown chamber of commerce’s PAC and support of candidates championing business friendly — and anti-head tax — platforms. Continue reading
Money well spent? District 3 voters lead, again, in Seattle turnout
Those pumping corporate and grassroots cash into the District 3 race for the Seattle City Council are getting their money’s worth. D3 is, again, out in the lead for voter turnout among Seattle’s seven districts.
According to the latest report from King County Elections, District 3 voters have already returned more than 5,000 ballots since they were mailed out last week — about 6.9% of the total 74,000 registered to vote across Capitol Hill, the Central District, First Hill, Madison Park, Montlake, and the nearby neighborhoods that make up the district.
In the August Primary, D3 also led the way, sniffing 50% turnout. The district has also added 1,000 registered voters since then, more than 30% of the city’s 3,500 “new” voters.
Ballots must be returned or post marked by 8 PM on November 5th. You don’t need a stamp to mail your ballot or you can turn it in at the drop box on Broadway at Seattle Central. More information on returning your ballot here.
PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
