"It's supposed to be a
democratic process and it's not a democratic process when Amazon can contribute
that much to basically a small election."
Wednesday, November 06, 2019
An attempt by Amazon to fill
the Seattle city council with members more supportive of the company than the
current progressive slate was called a chilling development for city government
by critics of the move after Tuesday's election.
Socialist councilor Kshama
Sawant, one of the company's top targets, told The
Guardian that her race had been uphill and that the power of a massive
corporation like Amazon stacked against her campaign had been difficult to
overcome.
"We have run a historic
grassroots campaign, with working people, community members rejecting Amazon
and billionaires' attempt to buy this election, and that doesn't mean we're
going to win every battle against the billionaires," said Sawant.
"What matters is the political clarity that the billionaires are not on
our side and that this is going to be a struggle."
Seattle is still waiting for
the final results in the race—Washington has a mail-in voting system that makes
final counts unavailable for days after voting—but as of Wednesday, it looked
likely that Sawant and fellow socialist Shaun Scott were headed for defeat
against Amazon-backed candidates Egan Orion and Alex Pederson,
respectively. Neither Scott nor Sawant had conceded at press time.
Amazon dumped cash into the
race via a super PAC, according
to Bloomberg:
Amazon, the biggest employer
in Seattle, contributed $1.45 million to a business-backed political-action
committee to help elect council members Amazon views as more favorable to its
interests and those of the business community.
The group, called the Civic
Alliance for a Sound Economy, backed six new candidates for seven open council
seats. Three of them are trailing in early results. It also backed one
incumbent, who is leading her race. Two positions were not up for election this
year.
In a Medium post
from November 1, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), whose district includes much
of Seattle, said she
was unsettled by the company's involvement in the election.
"I am extremely disturbed
by the unprecedented amount of money that Amazon has dumped into Seattle City
Council elections—not just a thumb, but a fistful of cash, on the scales of
democracy," wrote Jayapal.
Justice Democrats
communications director Waleed Shahid noted the
insidious nature of that corporate influence in a city where campaign finance
is set up to avoid such spending.
"Amazon's attempt to buy
Seattle's city council even as the city has a public financing system is a
dangerous and ominous development unfolding in one of the bluest parts of the
country," Shahid tweeted.
Journalist Walker Bragman, on
Twitter, called the
results an example of a broken political system.
"What happened in Seattle
is chilling," said Bragman. "Americans will either beat the ruling
class at the ballot box or in the streets. This inequality is
unsustainable."
Seattle voter Sarah
Champernowne, a Sawant supporter, said that Amazon's involvement in the race
was anti-democratic.
"It's supposed to be a
democratic process and it's not a democratic process when Amazon can contribute
that much to basically a small election," said Champernowne.
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