Business, labor groups dump big money to reshape Seattle council
Aug 6, 2019, 4:55 PM | Updated: Aug 7, 2019, 8:43 am

A King County ballot box. (Nick Bowman, MyNorthwest)
(Nick Bowman, MyNorthwest)
Once Tuesday鈥檚 primary votes are tabulated, candidates for Seattle City Council will narrow from a crowded 55 candidates to just 14. Only the top two vote-getters in each of the seven districts advance to the November general election.
Endorsements roll in for Seattle City Council
When all is said and done, there could be anywhere from four to seven new faces on the council. Only three incumbents are seeking re-election, Debra Juarez in District 5, Lisa Herbold in District 1, and Kshama Sawant in District 3.
Millions of dollars have poured into the council races, including hundreds of thousands from special interest groups representing business, labor, and more who are hoping to influence the election. Those independent political action committees can collect and spend as much as they want for or against candidates as long as they don’t coordinate their efforts with candidates.
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 PAC — the Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy, or CASE 鈥 has dumped the most money into the council races at nearly $380,000 as of Tuesday morning. Amazon, Puget Sound Energy, the Washington Realtors Association and other business groups are among the contributors.
Chamber Executive Director Maryland Strickland says there鈥檚 a lot at stake in this election.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 at stake for the Chamber is the same thing that鈥檚 at stake for the voters of Seattle,” Strickland said. “Seattle is a large metropolitan city; it is on a global stage. This is not about ideology. We need a city council that is functional. We need a city council that understands the nuts and bolts of local government, and we need a city council that鈥檚 willing to truly partner with the business community and all sectors.”
She says there’s been growing frustration with the council for a while, but it’s really come to the tipping point in the last two years with a lack of visible progress on major issues in the city.
鈥淭he things that rise to the top that are concerns for people in Seattle, it comes down to housing affordability, dealing with the homeless crisis, it comes down to basic public safety in neighborhoods and business districts, and then also the whole challenge that we have with transportation both getting in and out of Seattle and getting around Seattle,鈥 Strickland said.
Strickland credits the city for currently working with King County and other groups to create a regional 鈥渆ntity鈥 to address homelessness, which she admits can鈥檛 be solved by Seattle alone.
Still, she says there is a lack of visible progress on that and other issues despite increased spending.
鈥淭he city of Seattle has a $1 billion a year general fund and that general fund has increased a lot over the past few years, and if you look at how they鈥檙e spending their money there seems to be a lack of trust and a lack of credibility with this particular council,鈥 Strickland said pointing to recent polls that show dismal approval numbers for the council.
鈥淚 think what people are saying is, ‘You鈥檙e spending a lot of money already, let鈥檚 see some visible progress and then let鈥檚 have a conversation about an actual plan and what you think it would take to implement that plan,’鈥 Strickland added.
The effort to unseat progressives on the city council started during the debate over the now failed head tax when pro-business groups saw an opportunity to flip the council.
The Chamber鈥檚 PAC 鈥 CASE 鈥 has spent nearly three times that of the next highest spending independent PAC, Unite Here Local 8 which is associated with union hotel workers. They’ve spent all of their money 鈥 about $149,000 — on a single candidate in the District 7 race. District 7 covers the downtown area where most of the hotels are.
The new PAC Moms For Seattle has spent the next highest amount at more than $130,000, which they mostly spent on fliers showing tents and needles close to swing sets in city parks.
This PAC has stirred controversy for not revealing who was behind the PAC right away, and for in playgrounds in their fliers, rather than taking pictures of their own.
, the group also seems to have the support of Scott Lindsey, who was behind the recent 鈥淪ystem Failure鈥 detailing the city鈥檚 prolific offenders.
The fourth largest spender among the independent PACs is which is co-run by former mayor and long-time City Councilmember Tim Burgess. People for Seattle has spent around $120,000 for and against candidates, including money against incumbent council members Kshama Sawant and Lisa Herbold. This PAC says they want to elect a progressive council that gets back to basics and gets things done for the common good.
Candidates who Eastside businesses endorse
A handful of other groups representing progressives, labor and small business have spent smaller amounts, and the candidates have raised their own contributions, with Sawant bringing in the most money.
At this point Debra Juarez seems to have the most support when it comes to incumbents and independent spending, with most of the other special interest groups backing other candidates in Districts 1 and 3, where Herbold and Sawant serve.
Strickland says at this point there’s just too many candidates running to say how things might shake out in the primary, but she expects it will be a win some, lose some scenario for the Chamber.
Candidates endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce:
Seattle City Council Position 1: Phil Tavel
Seattle City Council Position 2: Mark Solomon
Seattle City Council Position 3: Egan Orion
Seattle City Council Position 4: Alex Pedersen
Seattle City Council Position 5: Debora Juarez
Seattle City Council Position 6: Jay Fathi and Heidi Wills
Seattle City Council Position 7: Michael George and Jim Pugel