‘No’ votes take the lead in Kshama Sawant recall effort
(The Center Square) – “No” votes now outpace “yes” votes by a 232-vote margin in the latest tally of Tuesday’s recall election of District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant.
According to King County Elections, 52.37% (40,629) of mail-in ballots have been counted of the 77,579 registered voters, with 50.29% (20,415) against recalling Sawant and 49.71% (20,183) for removing her from office.
The latest returns released Thursday afternoon continued a trend of “no” votes chipping away at the lead of “yes” votes. Tuesday night’s initial returns had the pro-recall votes up over the anti-recall votes by a margin of 53% to 47%. By Wednesday afternoon, returns showed 50.31% of electors voted “yes” in the recall and 49.69% voted “no.”
Sawant’s potential come-from-behind electoral victory is nothing new for the socialist politician whose district includes Capitol Hill, First Hill, the Central District, Madrona, Montlake, and Leschi.
In 2019, Sawant was re-elected to the Seattle City Council in a contest against Egan Orion in which she overcame an 8% election night deficit, ultimately winning by a margin of 52% to 48%.
She made a reference to that during an election night speech to supporters in a video posted by Socialist Alternative in which she noted, “In every one of our elections, there has been a dramatic swing after election night in our direction.”
King County Elections will certify results Dec. 17.
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