Washington Supreme Court allows charges in Kshama Sawant recall to move forward

Four months after hearing arguments, the Washington Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday morning allowing three charges in the recall petition against Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant to move forward.

In September, King County Superior Judge Jim Rogers allowed four of the six charges alleged in the petition filed by resident Ernest Lou to go forward, saying in his order that the petitioner had proved "knowledge of facts indicating that the Councilmember intended to commit an unlawful act."

The allegations involve giving protesters access to City Hall, leading a march to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's house, using city resources to promote a Tax Amazon ballot initiative and delegating hiring decisions to her political group, Socialist Alternative.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that charges of opening City Hall to protesters, leading a protest to Durkan's private residence and using public funds to promote a ballot initiative were factually and legally sufficient and could proceed in the recall.

The charge of delegating hiring/firing decision was found insufficient. Additionally, the court threw out part of the charge that alleged criminal harassment when leading the protest to Durkan's residence.

Petitioners will now need to collect approximately 10,700 signatures from residents of Sawant's District 3, which represents Capitol Hill and the Central District. If enough signatures are garnered, the decision would then go on the ballot for voters to decide.

Sawant's legal defense — which is being paid for by the city of Seattle as voted by the City Council in September — submitted an appeal of the lower court's certification of the recall arguing that the petition was fueled by policy disagreements, not unlawful activity.

"This is not a campaign event, this is not a process through which people who have political disagreements with council members who want to level a laundry list of complaints about her conduct," Sawant's attorney Dmitri Iglitzin said. "You can't convert political disagreement into a recall."

The petitioners have doubled down on their argument that "voters can decide for themselves" on the truth of the charges and whether they warrant a removal from office.

"Councilmember Sawant repeatedly denies that there is evidence of her intent to act unlawfully, when there is substantial evidence from which to infer her intent," the petitioners wrote. "Voters have the right to draw that inference and determine the facts."

In the interim months since the petition was argued, both the recall effort and a solidarity group supporting Sawant have managed to raise significant amounts of money. According to data from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, the recall effort has raised $294,721 as of Thursday while the solidarity effort has raised $426,518.

The Kshama Solidarity Campaign responded to the ruling, calling the recall attempt a "billionaire-backed, right-wing recall campaign." The group is planning a rally to show support for Sawant this weekend.

"We cannot afford to sit by while one of the most effective leaders for working people in the nation is undemocratically and dishonestly driven from office by a right-wing, corporate-funded campaign," wrote the Kshama Solidarity Campaign in a Facebook post. "Just as with the police under capitalism, we know that working people and oppressed communities cannot rely on the courts for justice."

The recall effort has yet to respond to the ruling.