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D3 endorsements: Seattle Times backs Orion, Cary Moon says ‘We NEED Kshama’

Cary Moon is backing incumbent — and Mayor Durkan nemesis — Kshama Sawant

While CHS is breaking all sorts of rules around “horse race journalism,” let’s talk about a couple more big endorsements sure to further shape the field in the District 3 race where the candidates can say lots of similar things about homelessness, safety, and development but the proof might just be in what bedfellows they keep. Don’t worry — we’ll get back to the issues soon.

But in the race, the Broadway Business Improvement Area’s Egan Orion is making big gains in the back stretch. Wednesday, the Seattle Times — it’s a newspaper that covers the city of Seattle that a few people around Capitol Hill might still read —  endorsed Orion as their horse — or dog — in the race:

Orion rightly says District 3 needs a council member who is less dogmatic and committed to listening to all sides. “It’s not us versus them; it’s just us,” he told this board. Indeed. Vote Orion in District 3.

The nod follows Orion’s selection for big-time business support by CASE, the political arm of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. It has spent about $90,000 so far on a canvassing, telephone, and texting program to support him.

The Times endorsement, of course, is also about Orion’s main opponent in the race, Kshama Sawant. The ST endorsement definitely lets it rip when it comes to the incumbent:

Sawant’s Marxist radicalism is not needed to advance the cause of Seattle’s working people or move the council left — it’s pegged left, stacked with union activists and unlikely to veer right anytime soon. Instead, Sawant’s divisive rhetoric, self-aggrandizement and incessant use of council chambers as a soapbox are making the council less functional, less professional and less welcoming to many ordinary citizens.

Seattle Times anti-endorsements haven’t really put a dent in Sawant’s armor in the past. But the nod to Orion should help the challenger in the crowded primary make a run at a “top two” finish in the Primary.

Sawant, meanwhile, now has the backing of the downtown chamber’s progressive mirror. The Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy led by nonprofit advocacy group Working Washington has handed Sawant its highest rating in D3. “With so many candidates this year, our ratings help voters understand who is running to make our communities a better place for poor, working-class, and middle-income families to live and work, and who is running to protect the status quo.”

Wednesday, the campaign also touted support from another Seattle progressive powerhouse as Cary Moon — defeated but unbowed by Jenny Durkan in 2017 — came out swinging for Sawant.

“​We NEED Kshama on Seattle City Council,” Moon is quoted as saying in the statement. “She is a relentless organizer for working class people. She questions cozy relationships and stands up to corporate power. She pushes bold solutions like the $15/hour minimum wage, tenant protections and rent control until they become common sense. These times call for courage — our city needs an inside activist to spark action, challenge the status quo, and hold power accountable. We need to re-elect Kshama.​”

You can learn more about each candidate’s endorsements at their campaign websites:

 

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29 Comments
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Nate Chaffetz
4 years ago

CASE is splitting the pragmatists. Orion seems like a nice enough guy, but he’s barely raised any money or democracy vouchers from voters in our district. Amy Nguyen and my personal favorite Logan Bowers are at least pounding the pavement. Logan has outraised by more than half before the CASE endorsement.

Sure, Logan may be too progressive for CASE. But has anyone at Amazon ever heard of game theory? (Yes) – By picking the least popular pragmatist (Bowers, Nguyen, Orion) – in terms of actual money and vouchers raised – CASE runs the risk of pushing all 3 pragmatic candidates out of the general. If it ends up being Sawant vs. DeWolf/Murakami…well then CASE might actually be helping keep Sawant on the council.

Thanks, CASE.

TooOhSicks
TooOhSicks
4 years ago
Reply to  Nate Chaffetz

Agreed, CASE is acting idiotically, but they probably expect Orion to do their bidding more reliably.

Bowers has the MOST support from the voters, as reflected in vouchers and donations (and Orion has the least!). It seems like a no-brainer to promote him to beat Sawant, since he already has so many people on board.

Arlo
Arlo
4 years ago
Reply to  Nate Chaffetz

“Nice enough guy”? Orion is going full slimy politician!

√ Bankrupted a business
√ Corporate PAC shill
√ Affair with a staffer

Waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Glenn
Glenn
4 years ago
Reply to  Arlo

What business did he bankrupt ?

Arlo
Arlo
4 years ago
Reply to  Arlo

Capitol Hill Chamber folded under his watch, I guess I’m using “bankruptcy” in the Michael Scott sense, not an actual legal filing.

RWK
RWK
4 years ago
Reply to  Arlo

The demise of the Capitol Hill Chamber was several years in the making, and Orion was the head of the organization for only a relatively brief time at the end. So, I don’t think he can be primarily blamed for what happened.

Nathan Chaffetz
4 years ago

Oops, it’s Ami, among a couple of other typos. My apologies. I’m super dyslexic.

Ella Jurado
Ella Jurado
4 years ago

Cary Moon needs to go kick rocks with flip flops on! She lost the mayors race for a reason and her endorsement means garbage…GIRL BYE!

MKay
MKay
4 years ago
Reply to  Ella Jurado

This!

Oliveoyl
Oliveoyl
4 years ago
Reply to  Ella Jurado

Seriously? Losing a political race and then slipping into oblivion is not what people who want to make the place they live better do. Many politicians lost their early forays – stepped back, took account and then went on to do amazing things. In fact one comes to mind immediately – Barack Obama, you might’ve heard of him.

JerryL
JerryL
4 years ago

So Cary Moon (who doesn’t even live in the 3rd District) wants Sawant to continue on the City Council! She ignores how “my way or the highway” Sawant has contributed to the disfunction that is the current Council. When Seattle was divided into districts to elect councilmembers, the intent was to elect members who would represent the constituents of each district. Sawant has declared that she doesn’t give a damn about that. All those outside supporters of her evidently could care less also.

Ace
Ace
4 years ago
Reply to  JerryL

She’s not “ignoring” Sawant’s approach. She is totally on board with the Sawant/Olliver brand of what might loosely be called politics.

Just take the most extreme positions on everything, hyperaggressively attack literally everyone, do a bunch of rallies and watch the fame+fortune roll in.

louise
louise
4 years ago

OMG. I live in an insane asylum. Carrie Moon is a multimillionaire who inherited her wealth, is now dictating to us in the third district who we should elect as representative? How dare she? I want to move. I am accepting all offers.

Fairly Obvious
Fairly Obvious
4 years ago
Reply to  louise

Have you never heard of a political endorsement before?

You’re acting like we live in North Korea, where people must vote for the dictated candidate or be executed.

RWK
RWK
4 years ago

I could CARE LESS about what Carrie Moon thinks. She is a has-been.

Ryan Packer
Ryan Packer
4 years ago
Reply to  RWK

I think you mean you *couldn’t* care less, Bob. Which is how I feel about your opinions on every subject.

Brian N.
Brian N.
4 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

Being a senior editor at the Urbanist I’d expect Ryan to be bigger than this. Yeah, not a good look.

Ryan Packer
Ryan Packer
4 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

I stand by what I said, which was exactly what Bob said about another civic leader.

Brian N.
Brian N.
4 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

If you’re going to label yourself as a civic leader then act the part; you’re a face/voice for a publication Bob isn’t.

Ryan Packer
Ryan Packer
4 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

This is the last comment I’ll make in this thread: I was labeling Cary Moon the civic leader there, not myself. I am not a civic leader.

Eli
Eli
4 years ago
Reply to  Ryan Packer

Ryan, you are awesome. Thank you.

CapitolhilE
CapitolhilE
4 years ago
Reply to  RWK

I like your opinions and Jim98122’s also! Don’t you hate grammar nazis?!?!

Sloopy
Sloopy
4 years ago
Reply to  RWK

I also appreciate your opinion, Bob.

Also Cary Moon – tell me again what she’s done to make anyone care what she has to say? She was an activist against the tunnel and is a rich lady with opinions. We got a million of those.

Max
Max
4 years ago

I will never vote in line with a Seattle Times endorsement. Quite the opposite. That’s strike 547 against Orion.

Sawant Out
Sawant Out
4 years ago

Sorry, but I do not need or want Sawant. This City doesn’t need any more Sawants whose only answer to City stability is to increase crime and filth. She had her chance. She went in the wrong direction; isn’t listening to her constituents, and has already lost an incredible amount of support. I’m voting her out.

Self-aggrandizement makes for strange bedfellows.
Self-aggrandizement makes for strange bedfellows.
4 years ago

Cary Who?

MKay
MKay
4 years ago

Yeah, like an endorsement from failed Mayoral candidate, self-appointed SJW and lifetime TFB (trust fund baby) Cary Moon Unit is something to be proud of. Lol!

Shaniqua
Shaniqua
4 years ago
Reply to  MKay

Y’all is crazy.

MarciaX
MarciaX
4 years ago

Sawant can be annoying as hell and she does tend to ignore a lot of prosaic constituent concerns that a more practiced politician would address, if only superficially and as a matter of self-preservation. Consequently I won’t be surprised if she loses re-election, and the fault will be largely her own. But there’s no denying the fact that she fights like no one else in local elective office on some really important things, chiefly the fact that the rent is too damn high, corporate taxes are too damn low, and renter and worker protections are too damn weak.

Again, I’m well aware of Sawant’s limitations and I’m not fully sold on voting for her again. She has pissed me off more than once and those who impute a cult-like creepiness to some of her supporters aren’t entirely off the mark. But sadly I just don’t see the same fighting spirit in any of her opponents. They all strike me as too “Seattle nice” to push for the kind of real, radical change that Sawant at least tries to advance in her own very imperfect and idiosyncratic way. I honestly don’t know what to do and I may end up not voting for anyone in this race.