Until you hire someone with even minimal Photoshop skills you should probably lay off these photo illustrations.

Heidi -- do you actually have a quote from Hearne in which he says Sawant is divisive? Twice you included the divisive notion in the same sentence as Hearn's other actions or words. I read the linked stories and I couldn't find it anywhere. Thanks in advance for your clarification.

"she didn't have 'any comments' on Hearne's run or the argument that she's divisive."

"he says shows his ability to build coalitions—notable, considering Sawant is sometimes criticized for being divisive."

Sawant is somewhat divisive, and she is a bit shrill in her socialist ideology at times. She isn't my favorite person in the world.

But you know what? She gets to rightfully lay claim to passing the highest minimum wage in the country. The $15 minimum wage, kludgy and drawn out as it is, would never have happened without her. I think Mayor Murray did a lot to orchestrate the back-room negotiation of the final deal, but I doubt he'd have bothered at all if Sawant hadn't made it her central campaign platform.

So Sawant might have a weird name and a weird accent, she might be a bit prickly, and she is undoubtedly our most far-left council member. But she gets to run on the success of the $15 minimum wage, and that will make her very hard to beat.

At least this year. I suspect after a term or two, she will start to wear on people, and her popularity will wane. I think the $15 minimum wage was probably her one great populist idea. If Hearne does reasonably well, he may be in a good position to take her on later if she doesn't last past her initial popularity.

@ 3 It would have happened without her if she had her way it would have been no waiting period.

@4 But council members don't get "their way" if they don't have the leverage to achieve it. She got the best she could as the right person in the right place at the right time - which has nothing to do with her apparent inability or lack of interest since in representing the wider concerns and interests of her district. It was a one time thing - arguably the best thing at the time - but leaving her wide open to the legitimate complaint she isn't good for much else. What can she now do for her district compared to someone who doesn't think the smaller stuff is beneath them? Be a living statue to her one and only achievement, not to mention a political pre-madonna who can't be bothered with the craft of effective politics and the nitty-gritty of actually helping run the city?

Hearne or somebody similar will easily defeat her when voters wisely say thanks but now it's time for tomorrow's work horse instead of yesterday's hero. Unless of course this one hit wonder can produce an equally popular follow-up. Good luck with that.

Sometimes Kshama Sawant's rhetoric gets away from her. Sometimes I just wish she'd smile more and not be so pissed off all the time... but you know what? She gets sh*t done. Hearne wants to roll the ball down the road, as he put it, Kshama picks up the ball, runs with it, AND scores the touchdown effectively (hello, $15!). Her views are needed on Council - especially in a city run at least in part by developers, bent on gentrifying our neighborhoods for as much profit as they can make off of ugly condo boxes that look like every other ugly condo box they've built, and greyscaling our culture into Bellevue II and pricing our people out. Kshama's tough and I know where she stands. To be honest, I didn't vote for her last time... but I WILL be voting for her this time, proudly and happily so. Go Sawant!

Murray would have pushed the $15 wage even if Sawant wasn't elected. He was advocating for it even before the primary, before it was even clear that Sawant was going to be on the general election ballot and before she had an iota of news coverage.

For shits-and-giggles value alone it would be great if someone challenged Sawant from the left. Preferably a candidate with North Korean style rhetoric who is eager to denounce her for her "running dog lackey" ways etc, etc. There is never an anarchist around when you need one.

"I worked to cement marriage equality in this state!"

So did Ed Murray, and I already want to send him packing. A great mayor he has not been.

@5, tell me what Sally Clark, for instance, has done during her whole...uh, can't remember how many years she's been in office because there's nothing to remember. And that's the point. For Sawant, having never held a political office before with no training in municipal politics, to have achieved even one thing, let alone a major thing, in one year in process-heavy Seattle is good.

@3, what was the purpose of your mentioning Sawant's "weird name" and "weird accent"? Just general prejudice or did you have a real point?

@10 Ask Sally Clark's constituents and you'll find a host of things she's done - "little things" - that are the proverbial nitty-gritty of city council representation. Name one thing Sewant's accomplished besides taking credit for the $15 groundswell. She can't answer phone calls, talk to the press or work with the community at large, let alone with those she fundamentally disagrees with on transcending principle. In other words, take $15 out of the equation and she's a dysfunctional hack at what the job REALLY involves. Seattle is too smart not to realize their best interests are now better served by getting behind someone who can be an effective representative. Credit where it's due; she certainly helped put $15 over the top. But that doesn't make her the best candidate for the more mundane and less glamorous representation her constituents need.

Great: a bourgie gay guy who might be hoping theirs enough fools in that municipal voting district that will only vote for him because he is a homosexualist and/or racially White . . . .

If Seattle were in a typical European country, then there'd be twice as many current city-council seats ( and thus more fair representation).