A new group raising thousands to join the “vote yes” fight, a Kshama Solidarity Block Party, media endorsements, and the first votes being cast — here are the latest updates in the December 7th recall election.

• New political action committee forms: While only District 3 residents can vote in the recall, anybody can throw cash at the political battle. A group calling itself A Better Seattle has registered and is already collecting thousands of dollars to campaign for “yes” votes in the recall of Kshama Sawant. The group is also leaping in with a request to immediately be free from state contribution limits — one of its first expenditures was $3,000 to the Perkins Coie law firm for the work. The group has also spent $500 on a website and $5,000 to retain a firm to aid in fundraising. Early contributors were led by $1,000 from the state PAC of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, $1,000 from the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association, and $1,000 from Matt Griffin, principal at the Pine Street Group, the developer behind the $2 billion downtown convention center expansion. Consultant Sandeep Kaushik, busy taking victory laps after progressive wins in Seattle’s November General Election, weighed in with $250 of in-kind work for the group. The group has nothing to do, apparently, with Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s charity effort of the same name. The chair of the group is listed as Chris McLain. We tried checking to see if it’s the same Chris McLain who has led Ironworkers Local 86 union efforts but the phone number he included in filings with the city goes to the PAC’s accounting office.
• The money: The Recall Sawant campaign, meanwhile, continues to raise funds as does Kshama Solidarity to oppose the recall. Together,the three groups have raised a combined $1.7 million so far, according to the city.
• ‘F%#k The Recall’ Block Party: As part of what it has promised will be “the largest get out the vote campaign Seattle has ever seen,” Kshama Solidarity is holding a Cap Hill Get-Out-the-Vote Block Party Sunday in Capitol Hill’s Thomas Street Mini Park:
  

  Come out to a BLOCK PARTY on Capitol Hill to BLOCK the Racist, Right-Wing Recall! Register to vote, print your ballot, eat some food, and help defend Kshama and defeat the Recall.

  The tiny Bellevue Ave park has been busy during the pandemic as a small center of encampment and mutual aid activity on this western edge of the Hill.

• Where’s Sawant? This week, she was on First Hill as the longest sitting council member took on the plight of tenants in the 34-unit Terrace Crest building in her latest surgical strike to champion tenant causes this fall on a building by building and sometimes tenant by tenant basis.
• Where’s Henry Bridger? The querulous Recall Sawant campaign manager took his latest complaints about censorship and fake news to the Capitol Hill Seattle Facebook Group with claims CHS was locking out District 3 residents from joining the members-only forum:
  

  What it’s like running a Capitol Hill Facebook group during the recall pic.twitter.com/PF3Mj9Haoy

  — jseattle (@jseattle) November 19, 2021

  
  No conspiracy here. We add new members only periodically to cut down on the huge amount of effort required to administrate the neighborhood conversation forum. All you need to do to join is answer a few simple questions — and wait your turn:

  

  
• Endorsements: As soon as the smoke had cleared from the General Election, the Seattle Times editorial board weighed in with its endorsement in the recall vote — vote yes, the Times says:
  

  Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant has long been an outspoken voice for socialist ideals with an utter disregard for the city’s business community. She has also inserted rudeness, bullying and shoddy ethics into City Hall, which has done profound disservice to her District 3 constituency and the city. Voters should hold Sawant accountable for transgressions against civil governance and remove her from office.

  The city’s only progressive counterbalance, The Stranger weighed in and predictably calls for a no vote from D3 residents:

  Though the people running the recall campaign claim the “progressive” mantle, the effort to boot Sawant emerged alongside a nationwide recall craze. Most of those recalls sought to punish politicians for supporting COVID-19 restrictions, but others sought to punish politicians who supported the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020.

  Both outlets are headquartered outside of District 3.

• Replacing Sawant: One of the most mis-reported elements of the recall involves the process that will play out if the “yes” side wins. It’s OK. Even our recent inquiry to the City Council’s media representative ended up with staff digging into the City Charter for answers. Everybody has the basics down; Should Sawant be recalled, the City Council will appoint a replacement. But the specifics get muddled in several reports. There are a few key elements to be aware of. First, the recall is immediate. Once the vote is certified, Sawant would be removed from office. The City Council will then swing into action to name a replacement. Here’s what the Charter says about that:
  

  the City Council shall, within twenty days thereafter, proceed to select by ballot a person to fill such vacancy, who shall possess the qualifications required for election to such office; such selection to be effective only upon the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the City Council. If any elective office shall not be filled within twenty days after it becomes vacant, the City Council shall meet and ballot at least once each day, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, until such vacancy has been filled.

  You can check out the process around the replacement of Rob Johnson in 2019 for more about that. The part that is frequently botched by reporters comes next. The replacement would not finish Sawant’s term through 2023. Instead, the appointment lasts only through the next General Election. The result will be a lot of ballots for D3 residents — the November vote we just went through, the D3 recall on December 7th, a new D3 vote in November 2022, and another D3 vote in 2023 for the full four-year term. So, yes, a “yes” vote next month could set the course for the D3 seat through 2027.

• Ballots: King County Elections says ballots are now in the hands of voters:
  

  King County Elections (KCE) mailed ballots today to over 76,000 registered voters in Seattle City Council District 3 for the December 7 recall election. Voters will begin to receive their ballots over the coming days and should have them in their mailbox by the Monday, November 22 mail delivery. If they have not received their ballot by Monday and believe they should have, voters should give KCE a call at 206-296-VOTE (8683). Only voters registered in Seattle City Council District 3 are eligible to vote in this election. They will be weighing in on the question of whether to recall City Councilmember Kshama Sawant. The allegations levied by recall proponents, and Sawant’s response to them, will be on the ballot itself and voters will mark RECALL YES or RECALL NO.

  Recall Sawant has outlined multiple acts the group says warrant recall including using city resources to promote a Tax Amazon initiative, allowing demonstrators inside City Hall during a protest in June 2020, and marching to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s home address kept secret due to her past role as a federal prosecutor. A fourth charge of allowing Socialist Alternative to influence her office’s employment decisions was rejected by the state Supreme Court.

The Recall Sawant debate

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