This is an accepted version of this page Kshama Sawant (/kəˈʃʌmɑː sɑːˈwʌnt/ kə-SHUM-ah sah-WUNT; born October 17, 1973)[1] is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024.

[12] After moving to the United States in 1996 [13]with her husband Vivek Sawant, a Microsoft software engineer,[14] she decided to turn her attention to economics following a year and a half stint as a programmer.

[19] Sawant has indicated that the genesis of her becoming a socialist began in India[10] and was reinforced upon her arrival in the United States, which she described as "the wealthiest country in the history of humanity", yet is subject to poverty and homelessness.

[22] After her unsuccessful run for the House, Sawant entered the race for Seattle City Council with a campaign organized by the Socialist Alternative.

[23][42] Her campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage has been credited for bringing the issue into the mainstream and attracting support for the policy from both Seattle former Mayors Michael McGinn and Ed Murray.

[51] Her District 3 opponent Pamela Banks criticized Sawant's status as a national figure as a distraction from her primary duty to serve her constituents.

[53][54] Sawant advanced through the primary election for City Council District 3 representative on August 4, 2015 with 52% of the vote, 18 percentage points ahead of her closest opponent, Pamela Banks at 34%.

[61] The 2019 Seattle City Council election gained national attention after Amazon spent an unprecedented $1.5 million on the campaign.

Amazon became increasingly involved in city council politics after the passage of the Seattle head tax in 2018, which would have cost the company $11 million annually in order to fund public housing and homeless services.

[67] In August 2020, petitioner Ernie Lou submitted a petition to the King County Elections Office to recall Sawant, charging that Sawant "used her position in violation of the law or has recklessly undermined the safety of others," including open city council to protests, the march on Mayor Durkan's home, and encouraging people to occupy the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

[76][77] On January 19, 2023, Sawant announced that she would retire from the city council at the end of the year, and that she would be launching Workers Strike Back, a national labor movement.

[80][81] In 2017, Haglund filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle for defamation, seeking $25 million in damages, a retraction of "derogatory comments," and a resolution apologizing to him.

[83] In August 2017, two Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers sued Sawant, claiming she defamed them by calling them murderers after they shot and killed Che Taylor.

"[82][85] Council President Bruce Harrell wrote in a Seattle Times article that the city would pay for legal representation in her defense stating, "Councilmember Sawant was engaged in communication that was a clear extension of her office.

[86][87][88] In 2015 and 2018, multiple complaints were lodged against Sawant over potential misuse of city resources for a town hall (2015) and rally (2018) by anonymous reporters and council member Sally Bagshaw.

"[90] Sawant responded by saying, "I strongly believe that council resources should absolutely be used to build social movements and not for furthering the interests of the Chamber of Commerce.

[89][90] In February 2020, an ethics complaint was lodged against Sawant for using public resources in support of the "Tax Amazon" ballot initiative that she started.

[91][92] In response to the complaint, Sawant wrote, "It's shameful that while big business has license to run amok trying to bully or buy politicians...working people have to follow the most onerous of restrictions.

[94] In a written statement, Sawant stated, "So I have signed the SEEC's settlement which acknowledges fault in this matter, and will apply this interpretation of the ethics code going forward.

"[95] In a letter to the Council president on June 30, 2020, Durkan asked the City Council to investigate Sawant under its city charter authority to punish members for "disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior," writing that Sawant had participated in a march to her home, knowing that her address "was protected under the state confidentiality program because of threats against me due largely to my work as U.S.

"[96] Additionally, Sawant led protesters into Seattle City Hall, which was closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, on the evening of June 9, 2020.

"[96] In response, Sawant accused Durkan of being the leader of a "pro-corporate political establishment" and of carrying out "an attack on working people's movements.

"[100] During an election victory rally for her City Council campaign, Sawant criticized Boeing for saying it would move jobs out of state if it could not get wage concessions and tax breaks.

She called this "economic terrorism" and said in several speeches that if the company moved jobs out of state, the workers should take over its facilities and bring them into public ownership.

They are hand in glove with the Democratic Party, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into their campaigns, and they tell rank and file workers that you have to be happy with these crumbs".

"[107] In 2013, Sawant urged other left-wing groups, including Greens and trade unions, "to use her campaign as a model to inspire a much broader movement".

[110] In 2024, Kshama Sawant's organization, Workers Strike Back, endorsed Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for the United States presidential election.

[114] In 2012, the Sawant state campaign criticized the raiding of Occupy Wall Street activists' homes by the Seattle Police Department's SWAT team.

[119] In a February 2017 article in the socialist magazine Jacobin, Sawant called for a "wave of protests and strikes" on May Day, including "workplace actions as well a mass peaceful civil disobedience that shuts down highways, airports, and other key infrastructure".

[122] Following a June 20 shooting in the zone that left one man dead and another critically wounded,[123] Sawant alleged that there were "indications that this may have been a right-wing attack," for which President Trump would bear "direct responsibility, since he has fomented reactionary hatred specifically against the peaceful Capitol Hill occupation"[124][125] Two days later, The Seattle Times reported, Sawant "walked back her unfounded claim that the shooting 'may have been a right-wing attack.'