In November the heavily Democratic and liberal West Coast US city of Seattle elected a Republican city attorney (chief public prosecutor) – the first open Republican elected in the city for 30 years. The context is a right-wing backlash against the Black Lives Matter and police reform movements. At the time we noted that socialist Seattle councillor Kshama Sawant, who faced a "recall" vote to remove her from office in December, was in danger.
Sawant is a member of Socialist Alternative, linked to the group of the same name in the UK (previously part of the Socialist Party / Committee for a Workers’ International). She was first elected to Seattle’s council in 2013 and re-elected in 2015 and 2019.
Faced by a campaign lavishly funded by both liberal and right-wing corporate organisations and leaders, and attempts to suppress the vote by engineering a low turnout, Sawant and her comrades nonetheless defeated the recall – 50.4% to 49.6%.
• Socialist Alternative’s analysis of the issues and report of the campaign
• Article in Jacobin
