He's done more for the least among us than your snarky ass ever will, Rich. Keep that in mind as you dance on his political grave.

"Politicians need to negotiate better!"

Can't secure more funding for himself

Nobody is going to touch Sawant in this race. Whatever you think of her performance, she knows how to run a grassroots campaign.

@3: Sawant barely won citywide, by being Not Richard Conlin when the latter had long overstayed his welcome — and had voted not to give restaurant workers sick time (gross!).

She fled into the supposed safety of District 3 as soon as she possibly could, even though she likes to talk as if she still represents the whole city. When she was The Insurgent, that helped get her into office. Now, she promotes and protects her brand whilst accomplishing little for District 3. Incumbency is usually self-perpetuating, but not this year (so far).

We’ll see what kind of “ground game” she can muster.

Seriously? I get why so many stubbornly underestimated Sawant the first time. And I even kind of get why they underestimated her the second time. Kind of, though really, come on. Open your eyes.

But NOW? For a THIRD time? Still with the smug dismissals? Still? How many times will she have to beat you dudes before you wake up and realize that she's going to make you earn it? Go ahead, hate her all you want (though I think it bespeaks of some unresolved psychological trauma that she so easily triggers so many dudes -- just saying, guys, just saying), but even so, pour your hate into running a better candidate and a better campaign. If you can't even acknowledge she's good at this, you haven't got a prayer.

@5: A careful reader might have noticed that I didn’t “dismiss” CM Sawant’s hope of re-election. I merely noted how what got her elected citywide definitely won’t work now, and what she’s been doing in District 3 might not get her elected again either. Nowhere did I claim any other candidate would not have to “earn it.” (Of course anyone who deserves election should work for it.)

As for your Drive-In sized projection, “...though I think it bespeaks of some unresolved psychological trauma that she so easily triggers so many dudes -- just saying, guys, just saying...”, you might sometime want to try reading what other commenters actually write, instead of your tired and tiresome route of telling us what we believe and then bashing us for it. The only ones touched by such frenzied bashings are your own straw men.

Ignoring the historic shift in the city council, further left, electing more women, more people of color. Grateful to Sawant for raising the minimum wage, helping renters, putting issues on the table that were previously DOA. You say she "fled" into a district at a time when she was stronger than ever? Pure delusion.

Do you even know what District 3 is so unsatisfied with? It's all you ever say about her, doesn't serve her constituents. As if you had any idea what her constituents were lacking. All you ever do is claim she's out of touch with her District. You really think she's that dumb? That incompetent? After winning those elections? Passing so much landmark legislation?

You're convinced she's clueless and incompetent. You guys are forever blinded by "SOCIALISM BAD!!!" and enraged when she waves the red flag in your faces, goading you with calls to nationalize Microsoft.

whispers It's a trap. Don't fall for it.

It is totally possible to unseat her, but not by clowns who think she's an easy target, sadly because 1) female 2) not white 3) socialist. It's just sad.

@5, Spot on! And of COURSE A “barely” win is a win, and in her case, ushered in a new gilded age of Seattle leftyism - she was at the front of a trend, not an accident. Pathetic walk back, @6 tensor, a lot of things “might” happen. She’ll be repping Capitol Hill until she wants to leave.

The only way he could have lost this election is if he was caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.

"Given the amount of serious money "

Armchair socialism - it makes you look faaaabuuuuulous at dinner parties.

"Despite her flaws (an utterly screw-noodled political philosophy, irrational police-hater), Sawant is a canny political operator"

Thank you. The proof if in the pudding.

"Given the amount of serious money that lives in D3 (Cap Hill manses, Madison Park, Broadmoor),"

Bingo! These people don't really need much from the city government. They have bigger things to worry about than potholes. And if they have problems in their life, they'll write a check and solve them themselves. Being represented by a national superstar kind of does it for them. They see it as a choice between goo-goo candidate who promises to change the bulbs on streetlights, and Sawant, whose face they see on MSNBC and puts D3 on the map. Sawant makes D3 residents feel important, engaged. Woke. (Don't sneer, losers. Sneer after you unseat Sawant. Until then, sit up and pay attention.)

That's not the whole story. Sawant has some constituents who need things, but she also has star power and political capital, and a substantial entourage who can meet with them and find out what's bugging them, so she can flex her muscle and make sure the city delivers. She's smart, dudes. Stop underestimating her.

Or don't. The biggest problem in Seattle isn't Sawant, it's Durkan. If you don't even live in D3, stop obsessing over her. She's actually servicing her constituents while you're camping online, composing anti-socialist polemics to an audience who has no vote in that district.

@10: “...getting enough sensible pragmatists on the SCC to marginalize her off as the Council's nutty Auntie Kshama.”

The safest predictions are, of course, the ones which predict what has already happened. :-) Durkan marginalized Sawant with the EHT repeal, and then Sawant herself led the Council to slaughter with the Showbox fiasco. She was last seen ineffectually begging for “street heat” to salvage the latter effort, which is what little remains of her tattered agenda. Such pleas are not made by someone confident she has a ground game capable of winning an election.

On a nine-member body, at least one or two can be complete deadweights, and the other members get to look effective by comparison. There’s no burning need to prevent her re-election, and with four other open seats to fill, efforts to obtain a better Council can focus elsewhere.