King County election data shows strong early turnout for Kshama Sawant recall election

Voters in Seattle’s third city council district are turning out early to cast their ballots in this month’s special election, which will determine whether Kshama Sawant, one of Seattle’s most polarizing elected officials, will remain in office.

With just five days left before polls close on Tuesday, roughly 33% of voters have returned their ballot, according to King County election data. On Oct. 29 — five days before last month’s general election — roughly 20% of District 3 voters had returned their ballots. That means about 10,000 more people have voted now than at this time during the last election.

The strong early turnout speaks to the embattled socialist’s schismatizing effect on Seattle voters.

Her fierce advocacy for renters and those experiencing homelessness, along with her success in implementing a citywide payroll tax on high-salary earners at large corporations, have made her a champion to the city’s left faction. But many view her as a villain.

Two groups — Recall Sawant and A Better Seattle — are leading the recall effort. They say the election is about accountability, not politics, but it’s impossible to separate the two when dealing with a council member who’s been on the receiving end of attacks by prominent Republicans such as Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro.

As of Wednesday, Recall Sawant and A Better Seattle had raised $968,118 in contributions, according to Seattle’s Ethics and Elections Commission. The Kshama Solidarity Campaign, which is fighting the recall, had raised $953,174.

As of now, more than half of the Solidarity Campaign’s contributors are from outside Seattle, while most of the donations being made to the recall groups are from city residents not in District 3.

Only voters from District 3, which includes Capitol Hill, the Central District, First Hill, Madison Park, Little Saigon International District, Madrona, Mount Baker, North Beacon Hill and South Lake Union, can vote in the recall election.

Current election data shows strong turnout in precincts in the district’s north sectors and along its eastern shoreline. Those areas largely supported moderate candidates such as Bruce Harrell and Ann Davison in last month’s general election. But turnout levels are also surging in the Central District and around Broadway and Pike/Pine, where left-leaning candidates such as M. Lorena González and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy saw strong support.

Sawant is facing a recall on three separate charges, which are each listed on the ballot sent out to voters.

First, she used city resources to support a proposed ballot initiative. Second, she disregarded state health orders by opening City Hall, which was locked, to hundreds of protesters during one of the several Black Lives Matter protests that broke out across Seattle last summer. And third, she led a protest march to Mayor Jenny Durkan's private residence, the address of which is protected under state confidentiality laws because of her work as a federal prosecutor.

The state Supreme Court voted unanimously to allow the recall to go forward, but did not weigh in on the veracity the charges. Sawant has admitted to the first charge, saying it was an accident. As for the remaining two charges, she admits to opening City Hall but says she did not violate a specific state health order, and she denies having any involvement with the organization of the march to Durkan’s house.

The court tossed out a fourth charge that claimed Sawant allowed Socialist Alternative — a national Marxist organization — to make hiring decisions for her office, saying it was not sufficient to trigger a recall.