The latest updates on the Washington State elections show some surprising turnarounds in the vote count. The elections have have attracted national and international attention on several controversial issues.
Occupy Candidate For Seattle City Council
When I interviewed the Occupy candidate running for Seattle City Council on election night, Kshama Sawant had already conceded the race. She tweeted that her opponent incumbent Richard Conlin could now continue to collect his pay checks form the city. A few days ago Sawant was still 1,200 votes behind Conlin.
According to the latest reports, Kshama Sawant is now leading by a total of 41 votes. Her campaign raised $30,000 from non-corporate donors.
On election night Sawant was waxing philosophical about what she had learned during the election and she was talking about future campaigns. One of the lessons she may have now learned is that a candidate should not concede until all the votes are counted.
The Seattle City Council positions are considered non-partisan but you won't find a Republican anywhere to be found among the candidates. Seattle is famous for it's tolerance for marijuana, the population's high level of education, and for it's dependence on high tech industries.
Locally based corporations include Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Boeing, Starbucks, etc.This part of the country is also home to two of the richest men in the world -
Paul Allen and Bill Gates.
Neither one of them are interested in wearing suits and ties. In other words, Seattle is a pretty relaxed and very progressive town where none of the city officials support coal trains or fast food restaurants. Seattle is green friendly and corporate at the same time - an interesting combination.
It may be surprising to some political observers that a socalist candidate could potentially win this election. Kshama Sawant's main platform issue has been support for raising the minimum wage in Seattle to $15/hr. (By the way, the city of Seatac just south of Seattle did manage to pass a ballot measure in support of that same issue.)
Sawant has received a lot of her support from occupy activists who trained themselves on how to organize during the height of that movement.
Many political pundits and consultants around the nation have wondered why the Occupy Wall Street movement didn't produce an electoral strategy. I have been asked that same question multiple times while on the air as a journalist with Jeff Santos in Boston, Norman Goldman in LA and Thom Hartmann from Washington, DC. This city council race demonstrates that there is potential for votes among that movement.
In some of the more progressive states it has been clear from the beginning that there were quite a few progressive Democrats involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Some of them are using their political experience and expertise to help local political campaigns.
Kshama Sawant is a teacher at Seattle Central Community College who has little or no experience with electoral politics. A local alternative weekly called The Stranger supported Sawant's candidacy and as far as I know, they were the first media to predict her victory.
Proposition 1 - Public Election Financing In Seattle
In another surprising turn of events, Seattle's Proposition 1 is failing by less than a percentage point. The measure to provide public funding for political campaigns in the city of Seattle is backed by pro democracy groups as a way to get big money out of local elections. The proposition could also lead to an established limit on the amount that a candidate can spend during their campaign.
Proposition 1 was leading early in the week, but now it's fate is unclear. There are 60,000 votes yet to be counted from King county alone.The election results will not be officially certified until November 26.
Coal Port/Coal Trains
In Whatcom county, four new Democrats were elected to the county commission.
All of them have stated publicly that they will vote against granting a permit for a new coal port in Bellingham. The proposed port would have exported 48 million tons of coal each year to China.
The coal controversy in the Northwest has attracted hundreds of people to public hearings and few local residents have supported either the transport or export of that fossil fuel. The election in Whatcom county has been a focus of many national media reports and is being watched closely by green technology advocates and environmental protection groups.
Initiative 522 - GMO Labeling
Intiative 522 is still failing as of this writing. Washington State's campaign to label genetically modified organisms in food was fought by a group of very wealthy and powerful bio-tech companies, chemical corporations, and the Grocery Manufacturer's Association. The "No on I-522" campaign spent millions to defeat the measure. In fact, they outspent the local food co-ops, David Bronner of Dr. Bronner's Soap, and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream by a ratio of three to one.
Here's the latest vote counts on several important election issues:
Last updated on 11/13/2013 3:23 PM
Initiative to the Legislature 522 Concerns labeling of genetically-engineered foods
County Results
Yes
798,990 48.27%
No
856,199 51.73%
Total Votes 1,655,189
General Election
Updated after 8:15 pm election night and most weekdays by 4:30 pm until certification on November 26.
City of Seattle Council Position No. 2
Richard Conlin
49.88% - 79710 votes
Kshama Sawant
49.91% - 79751 votes
City of Seattle Proposition No. 1
Yes
49.11% - 82268 votes
No
50.89% - 85234 votes
votesawant.org
http://www.youtube.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://yeson522
http ://organicconsumers.org