On Dec. 7, Seattle voters will decide whether to recall District 3 City Councilmember Kshama Sawant. 

Recall petitioners allege three grounds for recall against Sawant: misusing city funds for electioneering purposes, disregarding regulations related to COVID-19, and misusing her official position. Sawant responded that the recall effort was politically motivated and asked a state superior court to dismiss the recall petition. The Washington Supreme Court ultimately ruled the recall could go forward.

Sawant supporters collected signatures for the recall in an effort to get it on the Nov. 2 ballot. The official recall campaign submitted signatures on Sept. 8, and the recall was scheduled for Dec. 7.

As of Nov. 2, the Kshama Solidarity campaign had raised $798,422 to the Recall Sawant campaign’s $684,191.

Sawant is a member of the Socialist Alternative Party and upon her election in 2013 was the first socialist elected to Seattle city government in 97 years.

This is one of 12 city council recall efforts we’ve tracked in the 100 largest cities in 2021. Six of those efforts were in four California cities (Los Angeles, Riverside, Anaheim, and San Diego). Three were in Anchorage, Alaska. The other two were in Kansas City, Missouri, and Austin, Texas. Five efforts did not go to a vote, five are underway, and two were defeated. 

Since Ballotpedia began tracking recalls in 2008, we have not tracked a successful recall of a city council member in Washington.