After tonights election people will ask “Did Amazon win?”
Orion v Sawant is the highest profile race and the media will be tempted to use this as a bellwether.
But there is a more important metric - how many Chamber of Commerce endorsed candidates are on the Council?
Orion v Sawant is the highest profile race and the media will be tempted to use this as a bellwether.
But there is a more important metric - how many Chamber of Commerce endorsed candidates are on the Council?
That was the goal of business leaders since last summer when they saw an opening after the head tax. Their words:
“What do we want? A new city council,”
“it’s an opportunity to take back our city”
theatlantic.com/technology/arc…
“What do we want? A new city council,”
“it’s an opportunity to take back our city”
theatlantic.com/technology/arc…
After the 2017 elections the chamber had endorsed 5 of the 9 members. 5-4 was a tenuous advantage after the 7-2 advantage they held before 2013. (yea, that’s what I had to deal with.) Kshama’s win made it 6-3 chamber. Districts ultimately made it 5-4.
And to be clear, public pressure can move individual council members to depart from the chamber of commerce. That’s how we got paid sick leave and defeated the attempt to criminalize pan-handling by Burgess. But endorsed candidates winning is a clear metric of influence.
Without an election, the Chamber has gone from 5-4 to 4-5. Head tax duplicity and attempt to buy the election has alienated Lorena Gonzalez. She's endorsed Kshama. Never fully in chamber camp (despite endorsement), Lorena definitely can’t be counted as a chamber candidate now.
I think several races tonight are toss-ups - we don’t know who will win. But when all the votes are counted, the Chamber of Commerce will at best return to 5-4, but more likely see a further thinning of the chamber-endorsed ranks. Perhaps as few as 3 at the end of the elections.
The likely big takeaway - the Chamber not only failed to “get a new city council” and “take back our city” - they may go backwards. The Kshama race matters (there’s only one socialist now) but Amazon and business made it about themselves and that story deserves coverage.
Of course - it ain't over yet. Get out there and vote and make my predictions come true! Give your city council candidates the courage to stand up to Amazon and big business over the next 4 years. Let them know that organized engaged voters can beat organized money.
