Socialist Elected to Seattle City Council
Economics professor and Occupy Wall Street activist Kshama Sawant ousted 16-year incumbent Democrat Richard Conlin in the final days of vote tallying on a platform in favor of a $15 minimum wage, rent control and increased taxes on millionaires.Economics professor and Occupy Wall Street activist Kshama Sawant ousted 16-year incumbent Democrat Richard Conlin in the final days of vote tallying on a platform in favor of a $15 minimum wage, rent control and increased taxes on millionaires.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Your support matters…The Associated Press via The Huffington Post:
Sawant, a 41-year-old college economics professor, first drew attention as part of local Occupy Wall Street protests that included taking over a downtown park and a junior college campus in late 2011. She then ran for legislative office in 2012, challenging the powerful speaker of the state House, a Democrat. She was easily defeated.
This year, though, she pushed a platform that resonated with the city. She backed efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15; called for rent control in the city where rental prices keep climbing; and supports a tax on millionaires to help fund a public transit system and other services.
“I will reach out to the people who supported Richard Conlin, working with everyone in Seattle to fight for a minimum wage of $15 (an) hour, affordable housing, and the needs of ordinary people,” Sawant said in a statement.
During her campaign, she condemned economic inequality, contending that some people aren’t benefiting from the city’s declining jobless rate, ongoing recovery from the recession, and downtown building boom.
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