Planned Parenthood organizer Halei Watkins, whos running to represent North Seattle on the city council, has been endorsed by Democracy for America and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest.
Planned Parenthood organizer Halei Watkins, who's running to represent North Seattle on the city council, has been endorsed by Democracy for America and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest. Kelly O

Big ol' Howard-Dean-founded progressive group Democracy for America has endorsed five candidates for Seattle City Council, but skipped a couple notable races entirely.

DFA is endorsing:

• Tammy Morales (District 2, covering Southeast Seattle, running against incumbent Bruce Harrell)
• Incumbent Kshama Sawant (District 3, covering Capitol Hill and the Central District)
• Halei Watkins (District 5, covering North Seattle)
• Incumbent Mike O’Brien (District 6, covering Ballard and Fremont)
• Lorena Gonzalez (Position 9)

The group has about 10,000 members in Seattle.

Notably missing: West Seattle's District 1, which includes longtime Nick Licata aide Lisa Herbold; District 4, covering Northeast Seattle, where incumbent Jean Godden is facing four challengers; and citywide Position 8, where incumbent Tim Burgess is fighting off challengers that include Long Winters frontman John Roderick and former Tenants Union director Jon Grant.

Planned Parenthood also announced its city council picks, avoiding most of the hottest races. They endorsed Watkins, who is herself a Planned Parenthood organizer, along with two incumbents they've previously endorsed: O'Brien and Sally Bagshaw (running in District 7, covering downtown). The organization calls its endorsees "passionate champions of women’s health at all levels of government."

There's a chance either of these groups could announce more endorsements before the election, but the primary is now just—holy shit—four weeks away.

"Do you want the United States to become more progressive?" DFA asks its members in an e-mail. "If you do, we need to start at home—in Seattle and in cities across the country... Seattle is at the forefront of the battles to make our country more progressive. We're raising the minimum wage to $15 and we passed paid sick leave. We need to not just defend those wins, we need to go even further. Police reform has begun, but it's become bogged down and needs strong leadership to put a stop to racism and police brutality on the force. Rising rent is making this city unaffordable, making inequality even worse and forcing people to leave their homes."

Here's what they had to say about their picks:

DFA's five endorsed candidates are backed by a growing movement of progressives who want our City Council to respond to the public interest, not the special interest. Local unions, the Sierra Club, and activists across Seattle have come out in support of these leaders in this crucial election year.

Incumbents Kshama Sawant and Mike O'Brien have proven they will fight for a higher minimum wage, for more affordable housing, for publicly funded elections, and for fixing a broken police department. Tammy Morales, Halei Watkins, and Lorena González will each bring a strong commitment to social and economic justice to a City Council where those values are in short supply.

The Stranger will be publishing our endorsements this coming Wednesday.