A little more than a week before Seattle’s primary election, the National Association of Realtors, a Chicago-based political action committee, spent nearly $70,000 on mailers for Council President Sara Nelson’s bid to stay on the Seattle City Council.
In mailers sponsored by the interest group that only issued an apology in 2020 for its racist funding of the opposition to housing inclusion including the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the NAR calls Nelson a politician with “progressive values.” Progressive? Her?
This influx of money and influence is meant to counter Nelson’s extreme unpopularity. Polling in May found that 34 percent of voters disapproved of her job performance. And when voters were surveyed last week, pollsters found that Nelson and her leading opposition, Dionne Foster, are in a dead heat.
This is why Progressive People Power, or P3, a political action committee for, you guessed it, progressive values launched last year to support the more progressive candidate in each race. Last year, it was mainly Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who won in a landslide. This year, there is an entire slate of progressive candidates as we head into voting season.
“Those candidates work really hard and rise above the fold to get into the general election and then walk face first into a meat grinder of massive corporate spending that drowns out their message and makes it impossible for them to win,” Stephen Paolini, a consultant with P3 says.
Since P3 doesn’t endorse, the group’s rule of thumb is to not get involved in the primary. However, P3 is breaking that rule in the District 9 council race against Nelson.
Foster is participating in the Democracy Voucher Program, and has raised $290,756.83 in the primary. Nelson’s campaign has raised more than $423,000 before the primary, already 70 percent of what she raised between the primary and the general in 2021. And 17 percent of that is from outside of Seattle. Many of her individual contributors are wealth managers, investors, and developers. The $70,000 of PAC money from the NAR (separate from her campaign war chest) isn’t the end, Paolini believes. He thinks it’s only the beginning.
“We knew going into this that this would be a heavyweight fight where the business community would be coming in here and writing a blank check to try and keep what has been an extremely unpopular council president in office,” Paolini says, “and we felt it was really important for us to stand up and fight back.”
So P3 broke with their (albeit one-year) tradition and began funneling money and resources into Nelson challenger and policy expert Dionne Foster’s campaign weeks before the primary.
“This was a race where it’s super clear there’s one person that we need to help elevate and support and who’s going to be outspent by these out of state groups,” Paolini says.
And the group supporting Nelson is one that historically goes ride or die for NIMBYism. At a time when Seattle is dictating the future of Seattle’s development with the Comprehensive Plan, that kind of interest from the NAR may indicate Nelson’s real positions on housing and density.
“This is the mask off moment if anybody was wondering what her values truly are,” Paolini says. Likely, nobody was wondering.
But, on the flip side, these efforts to beat Foster emphasize her values as well. The people who have funded her confirm that, too.
P3 has spent nearly $80,000 on Foster’s behalf so far. According to Paolini, the money P3 spent in this election took over a year to raise from their collaboration with unions and individual donors. Meanwhile, Paolini says groups like NAR can drop that same figure with a snap of a CEO’s fingers.
“We need help from, like, lots of people to keep trying to stand up against this kind of powerhouse of an entity,” Paolini says.
Editor’s Note: A previous version misstated the total contributions Sara Nelson has received. It also stated that Dionne Foster could not spend more than $225,000 on the primary. The campaign informed us after publication that their spending cap has been lifted.
“A Conservative Out-of-State PAC Is Backing Sara Nelson”
Why is that a bad thing considering a liberal out-of-state PAC backing Alexis Mercedes Rinck?
Exactly @1, which is why everyone knows and regards The Stranger as an unfair liberally biased rag.
Sara Nelson and the current batch of qualified leadership has been good for Seattle.
Also, if only 34% of respondents don’t approve of Sara Nelson at this point, The Stranger should just admit defeat in their smear campaign against Nelson. 34% unfavorable is not extreme unfavorable. Not even close. Trump’s unfavorable is 55%. Writer should understand what a high unfavorable rating looks like before writing about it. Or at least put it in context. Has author attempted that, article probably wouldn’t have false description in the title.
Sara’s done a good job turning things around and helping Seattle avoid becoming Portland.
Coversersly, The Stranger and Nathalie have done a terrible job trying to smear Sara as a ‘conservative’. Why? because that narrative is utterly false.
I think the problem is more the conservative part than its being out of state. A better descriptor might be “one of the largest special interest groups in the country” that has backed a number of questionable/disastrous policy positions over the years.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Realtors
I’m so sick of the word “progressive”.
@3 this article actually misrepresents her popularity. From the linked poll results:
“Our May 2025 Civic Heartbeat survey finds … 40% disapprove of Nelson’s job performance, while 19% approve and 41% are not sure.”
So you’re right that 34% disapproval isn’t that bad, but 40% and a -21 net on the other hand is. On the other hand that’s a lot of “not sure” which probably explains why PACs on both sides are jumping into this race with both feet.
The question is not whether Sara will make it to the general, but I guess that Dionne may not? The only reason to spend money in the primary is to ensure you make the general. What would have been more interesting from P3 is who do they view as their competition for 2nd place. Is Conor Nash a more formidable opponent than Dionne thought?
@2
I see it more as entertainment along the lines of Babylon Bee or Duffel Blog. It isn’t as funny, but it’s good for a chuckle or two.
It’s a major red flag when money flows in from outside the city, not just from out of state #5. Even nearby Bellevue and Mercer Island residents should not be inflicting their car-dependent toxic-conservative hellhole on Seattle residents. Let them screw up their own towns with their bad ideas. If someone doesn’t reside in Seattle, get the fuck out of Seattle politics!!! I don’t care if you work in Seattle or own a business that’s located in Seattle, if you don’t live here then your political contributions and crappy ideas should be completely disregarded, and you should be treated with far less dignity than the most unholy carpetbagger. Double for out-of-state real estate agents. If a Seattle politician is unable to establish popular and financial support with Seattle residents, then they really should not be attempting to represent us.
@10 I disagree with you on that. I’m one of those who donates to politicians in other states running for office against MAGAts. Some candidates need all of the help they can including grassroots support.
Sara’s awesome.
Hey Natalie et al,
Why reporting on Sarah Nelson and not on your school board pick for District 5? The Kids Table, a PAC that rabidly promotes anti-Palestine ideals, is endorsing and spending $$$ to support Vivian Song. You endorse Vivian, Vivian endorses Bruce Harrell, isn’t The Stranger supposed to be “progressive”?!?!?
Hmmmmm.
Interesting.