RODERICK SAYS LOCAL POLITICS IS SLANTED TOWARD "RADICAL LEFTIST CANDIDATES" AND AGAINST TRUE OUTSIDERS
8:59 PM

The SECB has not provided an update from the John Roderick party in a while because the SECB was in a conversation with John Roderick and conversations with John Roderick tend to get deep and philosophical and go on for a long time. (This is not a bad thing, John! Just a fact.)

Roderick continues to emphasize—as we've written before—that he believes the current electoral process is rigged against true outsiders. Not activist outsiders. Real outsiders. People who may not have a policy answer for everything but who are at least interesting.

"A lot of people in this town regard reform as just getting more radical leftist candidates in office," Roderick says. "But radical leftists are often the most entrenched in party politics and the party apparatus. It's good to have radicals in Seattle politics, but they are on a spectrum that is still very within the system."

It looks like Roderick is ahead of the voters on that one, though, or something, considering that his more radical and policy-focused opponent, Jon Grant, appears to be headed for a race against incumbent Tim Burgess. (Grant got 28 percent of the vote in tonight's ballot count, Burgess 48 percent, and Roderick 16 percent.)

Meanwhile, the SECB is now in this very dark and lonely back room of the Canterbury where the SECB worries it might expire.

THE SECB IS BEING SET UP BY FRED FELLEMAN'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER’S MOTHER
8:59 PM

The SECB is feeling very uncomfortable.

At 8:14 p.m., the SECB ran into The Ballroom in Fremont to find port commission candidate Fred Felleman, his campaign manager Mario Brown, and a handful of supporters surrounding a laptop at the bar. Felleman was pulling in the lead at 21.73 percent of the vote. The competitor who ranked second? Marion Yoshino, 18.77 percent.

The initial results were unexpected, to say the least. The candidate who pulled in the most money was Darrell Bryan, a guy who rallied the support of Big Maritime and Alaska Airlines. Something to the tune of $102,756.79. And Felleman? Felleman's a twitchy environmental consultant who raised a little more than $38,500. But Bryan only mustered 10.82 percent of the vote.

How the fuck did that happen? The SECB doesn't know. But Fred Felleman's friends felt very strongly that The Stranger's endorsement had something to do with it. Okayyy. That put the SECB in a very weird position at a party of, like, six or seven people.

Then Felleman's campaign manager's mother (Yes! She was there!) asked if the SECB was Jewish. The SECB said yes. "What kind?" another supporter asked. "Reform, but, like, in a secular way?" the SECB answered. And then Fred Felleman's campaign manager's mother asked if the SECB was single. (Er. Uh. Yeah.) And then Fred Felleman's campaign manager's mother said that the SECB ought to sit down and talk with her for a while.

At his campaign manager's mother's urging, the SECB listened to Fred Felleman's campaign manager's music on his smartphone. It was very good.

Eventually, the SECB spoke to Fred Felleman, who was very proud that he received the plurality of the vote. "I am tired of having my two minutes," Felleman said. "I have too much to contribute to be relegated to two minutes."

Felleman went on to say that environmental issues had won out in this particular race. The timeliness. Think of the pope! The president's power plant rule! Climate change!!! IT'S ALL HAPPENING.

The SECB is concerned that maybe we created a monster.

(Meanwhile, in the other port race looks like it'll be Courtney Gregoire vs. Goodspaceguy in the general. Tough choice!)

FARRIS FINDS A VICTORY IN THIRD PLACE
8:55 PM

Shortly after learning that preliminary results showed him in a distant third place behind Bruce Harrell and Tammy Morales, District 2 candidate Josh Farris paused to speak with SECB. (Which we appreciated, since he had not yet even addressed his supporters at the very hot Union Bar in Hillman City.)

Farris was obviously disappointed, but forced himself to be upbeat. Officially, he's not conceding anything. "The initial votes are in, but only 60 percent of the votes are counted," he told SECB, pointing out that many people, including his wife, cast their ballots just yesterday. "So we don't know how it's going to go. We're going to wait and see how it turns out over the next few days."

Farris's campaign manager, Darnell Holder, had this to say: "Bruce Harrell spent $100,000 to get 5,000 votes. Tammy Morlales spent $44,000 for 2,000 votes. We entered late and spent less than $20,000 for 1,000 votes. So who really won?" (Um, Harrell. Convincingly.)

Farris stayed on campaign message: People Before Profits. He was quick to pass the mic on to his volunteers, many of whom have been foreclosed on, some of whom are currently homeless. While Farris is unlikely to make it to the general, his people's words were no less urgent or true—their fight really isn't over.

NEVER TRUST POLITICAL ANALYSIS FROM A GUY IN CROCS
8:54 PM

We had the munchies so hard after leaving the Debora Juarez party that we thought we'd eat our own soccer-mom coupe. But then Sandy Brown's strong-ass pizza game SAVED US!!

In any case, we walked into Watershed Pub in Northgate and climbed the stairs to the mezzanine where Sandy Brown's party awaited. Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold On Me" was playing over the speakers and we immediately became too busy missing our ex-girlfriend to continue eating. You were the one for us, honey.

We know she's gone forever, but where was Sandy Brown?!? It was 5 mins before the count was due and he was nowhere to be found. Weird.

Another weird thing: music from the downstairs area mixed with music from the upstairs area, which created Girl Talk-esque mixes.

The campaign manager emerged and read the numbers aloud to a small group of about four or five. Brown had 20 percent, Juarez 38 percent. Two people used a big cuss word. Then the campaign manager made a more formal announcement and read the numbers to the larger party of pizza-eaters—about 40 or so people, we'd say. The party met the announcement with silence, and then everybody chose their ambivalent grunt of choice before clapping.

Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" started playing. We had to contain our urge to sing the entire song because our mouths were stuffed with pizza and we didn't want to sing and eat—we weren't monsters.

Beneath the pop genius of Whitney, we heard a guy saying that "something seemed fishy" about the numbers. But that guy was wearing crocs:

The same guy said he was a little upset about the results, and mumbled something about The Stranger and the Seattle Times being anti-union. Before we got the chance to ask him what he meant, Sandy Brown came out to give a speech!

Unfortunately, the speech was hard to hear because Michael Jackson's "PYT" was blaring from downstairs and Brown's mic wasn't loud enough to overpower one of the King of Pop's sweetest jamz.

Brown thanked his family, mentioned his son's band, and outed his other son's recent Facebook-official relationship. He claimed he was glad to have Juarez as an opponent because now his campaign would "really have a chance to shine."

Someone from the crowed yelled "She's a lawyer for developers," which Brown amplified as best he could considering the circumstances. He continued on, saying that the veneer was going to come off of his opponent—presumably Juarez—and that people who believed in the power of Labor would come out to support him. He thanked many people by name, and ended the speech by saying, "Let's Party!"

People were mostly drinking wine in modest amounts. I overheard folks close to the campaign take some solace in the low turnout. Meanwhile, I took solace in this dude's totally awesome shirt:

If we had world enough and time enough, we would have danced with that guy, who had us at meow.

HARRELL SLOW JAMS THE PRIMARY
8:52 PM

Bruce Harrell showed up at his south Seattle campaign headquarters, discouraged applause while saying, "Low key, low key," and hugged a supportive cab driver, Abdul. A slow jam—"Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross—played and SECB was officially moved.

"We're feeling good about the primary," Harrell said. "For the general we're gonna jam it up."

BURGESS AND MURRAY SPOTTED AT THE GONZALEZ VICTORY CELEBRATION
8:50 PM

Lorena González told us she has "Resting Bitch Face"—and we wrote that "she does not appear to give one fuck" about that. She also seemed to give zero fucks about her election party because she still wasn't around at 8:34 pm, well after returns came in, although her campaign staff kept trying to get the SECB drunk because we were the only ones at the empty press table.

Then, at 8:38 pm, Lorena and her entourage of family members arrived to chants of "LO-RE-NA!"

She stood for several emotional moments as her supporters cheered and she hugged her mother.

"It's about us in this room," González told the crowd. "It's about working families. It's about my mom," and then described how her mom used to work 12-hour days harvesting cherries and asparagus, how her parents left Mexico so she could have a better life.

González promised to "hold officers accountable" and make sure Seattle is affordable for "everyone."

But, she added, "Our fight isn't over. I'm hopeful that come November, we'll be having the biggest party!"

Considering the large margin of her victory, that seems likely.

Noted party attendees: Mayor Ed Murray and Council President Tim Burgess.

OUR OLD FRIEND GOLDY EXPLAINS WHO, EXACTLY, SAWANT'S WIN IS A "FUCK YOU" TO
8:46 PM

The SECB ran into a former member of the SECB at the Sawant party—a former member of the SECB who was then, is now, and always will be in the tank for Sawant.

"Sawant is at 49.9%," said David "Goldy" Goldstein, a senior fellow at Civic Ventures. "That's a better percentage than Burgess. She's proven that the grassroots can make a difference in a low-turn out primary. Everyone expects primaries to favor conservatives. But she's proven that if you turn out your people, you can really have an impact. It's not all about money."

The SECB pointed out that Sawant raised plenty of money—almost as much as Pamela Banks.

"She raised more than Banks," said the annoyingly pedantic Mr. Goldstein, who has never been able to let anything slide. "But she spent it on organizing. She had no political consultants, her campaign did all their mailers themselves. Burgess is at 48% and she's at almost 50%! Banks is at 35%. This is a 'Fuck you' to Ed, it's a 'Fuck you' to Christian Sinderman, it's 'Fuck you' to Sandeep."

AND THEN PEOPLE AT THE O'BRIEN PARTY DECIDED TO TELL US ABOUT OURSELVES
8:37 PM

At the O'Brien street party, the drop was greeted with muted, not-all-that-surprised celebration. O'Brien made it into the general election with around 58 percent of the vote, the same margin he'd held during his 2013 primary. Conversation in the general vicinity of the SECB quickly turned to how and why The Stranger is fucked up. "It's like your what your kid brother would be doing, except he takes himself way too seriously," one attendee (a professional illustrator) said. "And if you mention that to him, he gets all offended, like: 'How dare you?' You guys are just..."

The SECB smiled, nodded, and smiled and nodded some more, and the interlocutor went to get another beer.

Anyway: O'Brien made it through the primary and the street-party herd is quickly thinning.

HOW WE PASSED OUR TIME AT THE BRADBURD PARTY (HINT: MEATBALLS)
8:27 PM

At 7:30pm, the atmosphere at Columbia City Theater, putative site of the party for position 9 candidate Bill Bradburd, can best be described as subdued. There are plenty of reasons why that might bode ill for the campaign in question, but on the plus side, ACCESS! The candidate greets us personally with a hearty handshake at the bar, lets us know that the band (the Polyrhythmics) has just finished sound checking and will mount the stage at 8:30. In the theater proper, two small banquet tables are laid out with the usual array of party treats, and talk of a potential animated PSA is bandied, briefly. Someone laments that the event has been scheduled on the same night that "all the neighborhoods are having their block parties." (By "the event," one assumes he means the party, not the election itself.) Speculation is offered that the Facebook announcement said the band was starting at 8:30 and that people may be waiting for that. "I thought there'd be 50 people here," Bradburd says, "and we've got like five." In fact there are seven. But it's early yet. Pass the meatballs!

By 8:30, the crowd has nearly doubled. Bradburd acknowledges that the turnout is "a bummer” but expresses gratitude for the "hardcore supporters.” The atmosphere remains subdued. Early returns are projected on the big screen with no fanfare. They indicate that Bradburd (15.21%), though trailing Lorena Gonzales (63.2%), is comfortably ahead of third place candidate Thomas A. Tobin (8.58%). The only ones around here that appear to be breaking a sweat are the cheese squares.

LISA HERBOLD AND HER POSSE ARE CELEBRATING HER ADVANCE TO THE GENERAL ELECTION
8:21 PM

Lisa Herbold was saying that 70 dedicated people had been working on her campaign, and they appear to have all packed into the back of the Feedback Lounge, because it's PACKED.

"Woooooooo!" the crowd just started shouting. "Woooooooooooooo!" Someone said to someone else who couldn't see the screen in the distance, "She's in second place!"

The candidate just took the stage and said "Thank you, everybody! It looks like we know something tonight, which is great, because I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I wanted to know before I left if we were in the top two. And we're in the top two!" She thanked her steering committee, her husband, her volunteers, Nick Licata, a whole bunch of other people, and her mom. Her mom—Donna—got the biggest applause of all.

Herbold closed by saying: "South Park and West Seattle are not for sale!"

RODERICK ON BEING A "DISTANT THIRD"
8:20 PM

Oof that was an anticlimactic moment at the Canterbury.

As the first results were announced, Roderick acknowledged he's in a "distant third."

During his speech, he stood on a bench motioning with a cheese tong and holding out for tomorrow, when more ballots will be counted.

"We are trailing by almost half which does not bode well," he said. But: "A lot of liberals, a lot of hippies vote late."

SAWANT SUPPORTERS PSYCHED
8:17 PM

The crowd went a little nuts when the tonight’s results were announced at the Sawant party: Seattle's first openly-socialist city council member got 49% of the vote, which is pretty fucking impressive. Chants immediately broke out: "We are unstoppable! A second term is possible!" And "Four more years! Four more years!" Were all the warnings earlier about older/wealthier/more conservative primary voters a cynical exercise? Did they expect to do worse? Or were they expecting to this well and they wanted to the crowd to go nuts when the results came in? "This is the primary," the guy with the mic reminds the crowd, "and this in a town with a forty-nine cent poll tax!"

We are passing the time waiting for Sawant with another chant: "We want buses and bikes, tax the rich, stop the rent hikes!”

RESULTS! WE HAVE PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS!
8:15 PM

TOP TWO IN CITY COUNCIL RACES

District 1: Lisa Herbold, 27.44% (2972 votes) and Shannon Braddock, 28.59% (3096 votes)

District 2: Bruce Harrell, 62.15% (5073 votes) and Tammy Morales, 24.54% (2003 votes)

District 3: Kshama Sawant, 49.90% (7462 votes) and Pamela Banks, 35.29% (5277 votes)

District 4: Rob Johnson, 33.72% (3558 votes) and Michael Maddux, 22.82% (2408 votes)

District 5: Debora Juarez, 38.24% (4140 votes) and Sandy Brown, 20.60% (2230 votes)

District 6: Mike O'Brien, 57.96% (7371 votes) and Catherine Weatbrook, 22.32% (2839 votes)

District 7: Sally Bagshaw, 75.91% (8704 votes) and Deborah Zech-Artis 13.54% (1552 votes)

Citywide Position 8: Tim Burgess, 48.34% (37300 votes) and Jon Grant, 28.36% (21883 votes)

Citywide Position 9: Lorena Gonzalez, 63.72% (49191 votes) and Bill Bradburd, 15.21% (11742 votes)

TELLING THE SECB TO GET CRUNK
8:14 PM

The SECB had big hopes for Michael Maddux's election party. This is "our very own Rob Ford" we're talking about here. Turns out this is just a low key get together of supporters at Pazzos in Eastlake. There isn't even a candy dish of quaaludes a la The Wolf of Wallstreet and Michael is still sticking to his story that he didn't know what they are. When asked about his endorsement, though, he says that he "loved it" and that people shouldn't take the SECB's endorsement so seriously. We disagree, Michael. The SECB's endorsements are nothing but serious, straight-laced political discourse. He also told the SECB to "get crunk and grab a drink," and he doesn't need to tell the SECB twice. The SECB just high-fived with Michael because he's in second place and beating Jean Godden. With this great news, we're hoping he gets crunk too, so he can unleash his inner Rob Ford.

CHECKING IN ON A CANDIDATE FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
8:13 PM

The SECB hot-boxed our communal soccer mom coupe and had our DD drive us up to the north country to check in on the festivities happening at Stranger-endorsed Debora Juarez's house in the 5th District.

Before we arrived, our gaze settled on a sign that confused our stoned brains: Lake City Park. What. What part of the municipality are you, Lake City Park? The lake part or the city part or the park part?

Anyway. The event was promised to be low-key. And indeed when we arrived, admittedly early, the host was dusting with one of those ostrich feathers that looks like a caterpillar.

We descended to a man cave. True Lies was on. Someone switched it to Pulp Fiction after poo-pooing The Exorcist: The Beginning, which is bizarrely the sequel.

The scene had a cool highbrow lowbrow vibe. Beautiful orchids shared a table with the Cheez-Its, which shared a ying-yang shaped bowl with M&Ms.

We made a dent in the cheeseballs while we waited for pizza.

Party-goers all talked about being nervous on an impeccably clean sectional sofa in an immaculately clean man cave.

We talked with Juarez about how deep space 9 was the more trenchant American sci-fi franchise, way more philosophical than Star Wars or Star Trek. We totally get now why we endorsed her.

Of course, the pizza came right when we had to leave. :((((((

MORE LIKE O'BRIEN, PLEASE
8:12 PM

City council incumbent Mike O'Brien has showed great intelligence and tactical skill by holding his election-night party outdoors. On deck: grilled meats of various kinds, cold pasta, chips and salsa, and a keg of ruby-red beer. Also hanging around: Slog commenter Will in Seattle, who says he lives nearby and likes Mike O'Brien because he "thinks about things" in a big-picture way instead of getting caught up in the "issue of the moment."

Old Seattle punk-rock legend Ed Fotheringham of the Thrown Ups is also loitering in the yard, having a heated conversation with a small group of folks about the virtues of various bike-infrastructure systems. (They all like bikes, they just don't all agree about the best way to make a city friendlier for them.)

The SECB asked O'Brien whether he would've risked arrest in a kayak protesting the Shell Oil rig if Sawant hadn't raised the bar for council members getting arrested during demonstrations first by getting cuffed at a SeaTac $15 protest. O'Brien told a story about 350.org doing arrest-likely protests in Washington, DC a few years ago and asking his kids whether they'd be willing to fly out with him to hold his wallet and keys so he could get arrested. "But talking about it over a beer with your kids and doing it are two totally different things," he conceded. "Sawant has created space for us all to do things we didn't know were possible. I'd like to give myself some credit for doing things consistent with my values... but she's definitely created space."

As for his next term? Affordable housing, public financing for elections, and "making sure Black Lives Matter, and racial equity in our city, our nation, and the world is not just a thing of the moment." He's also thinking about some steps towards rent control that won't need state approval—helping building owners who don't have the capital for seismic retrofitting get it done so they don't have to sell to the highest bidder and kick out their renters, for example.

The SECB has said it before and we'll say it again—this city needs more politicians like O'Brien.

PHILLIP TAVEL ON BEING ENDORSED BY THE SEATTLE TIMES AND BEING A HUMAN DILDO
8:10 PM

At the West Seattle bar The Bridge, city council hopeful Phillip Tavel says, "I think my chances are very good. Just in general from the doorbelling and phone calls, I think it's actually looking very good."

The SECB then brought up the delicate issue that we did not endorse Tavel, but thank god the Seattle Times did, because that kept the conversational wheels greased. "And I was really happy to get the Times endorsement," Tavel tells us. "In this race, it's so hard being outside the political spectrum because in so many of the endorsement meetings, it doesn't matter how good you are, you are not going to get the endorsement. It was nice the Seattle Times listened—I felt like Seattle Times listened when a lot of people weren't."

"And The Stranger?" he added. "Last year—it was funny when I did the endorsement for my judicial race. It could not have gone worse. I did not feel much love coming out of The Stranger's offices. This year when I went into The Stranger, I just didn't want to be singled out as one of the horrible people in the race."

Then Tavel referenced the dildo joke in the SECB's endorsements ("There are a bunch of unqualified dildos in this race, a few semi-qualified dildos, and one or two actual human beings"), but he seemed to misremember what kind of dildos we described. He said we divided the race into "human dildos" and "inhuman dildos," and before we had a chance to look up the line and clarify things, Tavel said the best thing that's ever been said: "I hope I'm at least one of the human dildos as opposed to one of the inhuman dildos."

"You seem like a human dildo to us," the SECB said.

"Thank you so much! I feel that way," Tavel said.

PAMELA BANKS IS NOT GETTING DRUNK
8:08 PM

Pamela Banks does not drink alcohol. Really. The SECB walked a whole four blocks from our office to come speak to Kshama Sawant's most viable challenger at 95 Slide, and she's not even getting sloppy. This very establishment sported a giant, inflatable beer can on the roof for the duration of Capitol Hill Block Party! What a bust. YOU CLAIM TO REPRESENT CAPITOL HILL, BANKS?

The SECB decided to order a whisky-and-coke and spoke to Banks while she was sipping on lemon water and nibbling on some tater tots. Unlike her depiction in Rod Hearne's campaign mailer, which portrays the candidate as a floating head amid a pile of money (a money muumuu!), Banks wore three-and-a-half-inch heels and a fashionable purple dress. Banks said she was disappointed by that particular mailer. She thought she had been cool with Hearne throughout the campaign.

"I think it's ludicrous to say that I'm a corporate person when I've spent my entire career working in my community, for my community," Banks said. "I don't take it personally. It is what it is."

Banks did not seem particularly troubled by the alarm about campaign cash she's received from SPOG and other anti-Sawant forces, either. "I know I'm going to be in the general," she said.

Well, yeah. But what about the margin? "I have no clue, because of this district thing," she said. "I think it's going to be closer than people think."

God. The SECB envied her confidence and wondered if more whisky-and-coke would help. So, were there any parts of the campaign trail that threw off Banks's cool?

"The intensity," Banks said. Supporters in their t-shirts, etcetera. (Translation: Kshama fans.)

Hmm. Okay. So if Banks doesn't drink, what does she do to stay so goddamn chill? Banks said she listens to music, does acupuncture, and a couple of other things the SECB does not recall at the moment. Stevie Wonder is on the campaign playlist, Banks said, before turning around to kiss more of her supporters on the cheek. The SECB thinks we need some tater tots.

EVERYONE KNOWS BUT ROD
8:07 PM

The SECB stopped at Rod Hearne's party at Poco and had to GTFO of there. Too sad.

A small group of supporters sat around sipping wine and chatting at incredibly low volumes. Hearne said he's feeling "philosophical at the very least" about tonight, whatever that means.

"I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen," Hearne said.

Yes. Yes we do, Rod.

KSHAMA SAWANT TALKS ABOUT PAMELA BANKS AND HER "CORPORATE MASTERS"
8:04 PM

The SECB asked for a moment alone with Kshama Sawant—and we got it. So we pulled ourselves away from the lavish spread and met the candidate:

SECB: So how are you feeling. How's tonight going to go? You going to come out on top?

SAWANT: I think that we have done a tremendous job—not just in the campaign, but throughout the year and a half we've been on the city council. We have a tremendous record. No question about how much support we have in the community among working people in this district. We have transformed Seattle's politics. I'm not just talking about myself and my staff. This is something we have done collectively. And it's not just $15, which was huge, and is being taken up in Los Angeles and New York, major victories for fast food workers—huge victories. Now Bernie Sanders is calling for a $15 federal minimum wage. Eight months or a year ago that wasn't happening, no quesiton. And it's not just $15. We helped organize low-income tenants, we defeated the Stepping Foward program...

SECB: But you're not just drawing support—you're also drawing fire. You've made some powerful enemies.

SAWANT: No matter what social change we talk about, no matter what kind of progress we are initiating in our society, we are going to have opposition, sometimes vicious opposition, by big business and the establishment. The question for us is this: Are we willing to fight for social change or not? We use the word fight because it's a fight. Those who are educated about what we are doing can't sit on the sidelines. People have to get involved. The CEO of Alaska Airlines is very motivated to defeat us. We want to win a linkage fee, we want to repeal the ban on rent control, we have to ask people to be willing to fight.

SECB: Who do you think your most formidable candidate is tonight?

SAWANT: The corporate masters have made it very clear whom they prefer. If you look at the 100K the Pamela Banks campaign has gotten from CEOs and developers—it's clear they've chosen.

The speeches have begun here at the Sawant party—and it sounds like the Sawant camp may be expecting a second-place finish tonight. The first speaker is clearly preparing the crowd for a potentially shitty first dump. “Tonight’s vote is not going to reflect the support or the achievement,” said the guy in a red shirt. “Tonight's result is not going to represent the views of a majority of the people in District 3!” He goes on to remind us that primary voters—particularly those who vote early (and whose ballots are going to be in the first dump)—tend to be older, wealthier, and more conservative, aka not Sawant voters.

TALKING BACK TO BURGESS
7:58 PM

While we're Kshama Sawant endorsers, the SECB kind of loves one of Sawant's opponent in District 3, Morgan Beach, who's centered her campaign on pushing for gender pay equity.

So when we heard Beach was hosting her election night party with SECB-endorsed citywide candidate Jon Grant we were so in.

We're loving the chill vibes at this party. Someone was talking about Bernie Sanders when we walked in. And we're drunk on this amazing cold brew coffee/whiskey cocktail Bar Sue serves (seriously go order it right now).

Grant is often aligned with Sawant and he's sure to support her in the general election. But Grant says he's planning to adopt Beach's gender pay equity platform if she doesn't make it through the general. To the SECB members sick of Jean Godden's slow progress and talking to death of that issue, that's fucking fantastic news.

Both Grant and Beach say they're feeling good tonight, though Grant is the only one of the two with a real chance of making it through to the general. (If he does, he'll face powerful incumbent Tim Burgess in the general.)

Grant says his campaign has pushed door-knocking and phone-banking hard in the last couple weeks. And what has he heard from voters? "There's a mood of throw the bums out, we need change," Grant says. "This is leadership that brought us the tunnel. This is guy who blocked campaign finance reform and who introduced panhandling legislation that targets the poor. His values are not in line with the voters of Seattle. There's only so long you can do that before that catches up with you and I think tonight is the night that happens."

One Grant supporter, who didn't want to be named, put the Grant/Roderick choice this way to the SECB: "If voters want to go with someone who's in the pocket of big developers, they can vote for Burgess. If they want someone who's taken advantage of their white male privilege but has no real experience, they can vote for Roderick."

In more important news, 20 minutes after ordering, the SECB is still waiting on its waffle tots. TOTS. MADE IN A WAFFLE MAKER. !!!

UPDATE: The waffle tots are amazing and the SECB's face will now disappear into them. Bye.

A ONE-ON-ONE WITH SAWANT
7:46 PM

Kashama Sawant's primary night party is taking place at the Melrose Market Studios, directly underneath some of the priciest, swankest restaurants on Capitol Hill. The SECB could smell the chow at Sitka & Spruce as we walked in. Yum. But this party—excuse us, this movement—is about working people and priced-out renters and the oppressed. It's not about oysters and morel mushrooms and locally-sourced meats. So the spread, such as it was, was much more modest...

The SECB asked for a moment alone with the candidate—and we got it. So we're going to pull ourselves away from the food. More soon...

ALL SMILES AT THE PARTY FOR CITYWIDE CANDIDATE JON GRANT
7:46 PM

LISE HERBOLD AND HER SECRET WEAPON—HER MOM, DONNA—ARE PARTYING IN WEST SEATTLE
7:34 PM

The people drinking at the Feedback Lounge in West Seattle right now include city council candidate Lisa Herbold, Lisa Herbold's campaign staff and volunteers, and Lisa Herbold's awesome mom!! Her name is Donna, she lives in the Adirondacks, New York, and she's been here for a month. She's "psyched" to be here. She's "always enjoyed watching my daughter in action—her drive and her spirit."

Asked what Herbold was like as a kid, Donna says, "Involved." Trying to dig up some dirt on the candidate, the SECB presses Donna for details about what Lisa was like in junior high and high school, but all Donna says is: "Engaged. Talkative. People always drifted to her."

Okay, fine. So has Donna been knocking back Ziggy Zoggy Lager's at the Feedback Lounge all month? Oh hell no. She's been put to work! All month long, all she's been doing is going doorbelling and doing phonebanking for her daughter. "Every time, except for today. She went out solo today. And it's been great. I actually know my way around West Seattle now."

Lisa hears us talking and explains, "I needed a partner."

Donna says, "And I was ready, willing, and pretty much able most of the time."

Lisa says, "Kept up with me no problem. I think my campaign figured out yesterday we had over 20,000 contacts between doorbelling and phonebanking. I've been doorbelling since March."

How does the candidate feel about her prospects tonight? "I'm optimistic. But whatever happens happens. I'm proud of what we've done."

Although she was depicted on a last-minute attack mailer wearing what can only be described as a money muumuu...

...Pamela Banks was rocking a purple dress and heels when the SECB breezed by her primary election night gathering at 95 Slide a short time ago. Maybe the muumuu only comes out if she gets elected?

Biking to City Council member Mike O'Brien's party in District 6, the SECB realizes it's such a lovely evening for anything but an election. (A primary election, no less!) Shouldn't we be playing badminton or outdoor pinball? But, duty-bound, we keep going...

The SECB stopped quickly by the Sawant party at Melrose Market Studios, where a banner on the wall demands rent control and a hand-lettered placard announces "Kshama & Bernie" (Sanders) will be appearing at Westlake Plaza together on Saturday at noon. There's a "Corporate Wall of Shame" on which "corporate executives, bankers, and private equity managers" are accused of giving $72,000 to Sawant's "main opponent"—who goes unnamed but is presumably Pamela Banks?

But can we talk about the Socialist snacks for a second? True, there's another table with TWO kinds of chips in a bows, but this table? Sad.

The Stranger Election Control Board has tossed Gus Hartmann's hate-balloons in the trash (having long ago devoured the chocolate-covered strawberries that accompanied said hate-balloons) and is now coming your way, primary night parties. Prepare thyselves.