When we endorsed Alexis Mercedes Rinck in 2024, we had a lot to say about what she wouldnât do: She wouldnât stoop to a lower minimum wage, she wouldnât make it easier for landlords to evict you, she wouldnât reduce oversight on cops, she wouldnât help corporations hoard more wealth.
That was because we knew that if she was elected, she (and at the time, Tammy Morales before she was bullied out of City Hall) would be a progressive in a sea of conservatism. As we hoped, she pushed back: She voted against giving SPD more access to âless lethalâ weapons, and when her colleagues approved additional surveillance from law enforcement, she opposed it.
But more important than what she didnât do is what she did. Despite being on council with people allergic to helping the city, Rinck found other ways to show up. She supported counterprotesters at a Christian Supremacist group in Cal Anderson, and was instrumental in convincing the city to deescalate the situation. She spoke out at the committee hearing when Council Member Cathy Moore tried to defang our cityâs ethics code, even though she wasnât on that committee (and even though Council President Sara Nelson tried desperately to shut her up). Rinck knows that being on city council gives her a voice, and sheâs shown us over and over again that sheâs willing to use it for ordinary people.
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Sheâs also clearly the voice we need to start fixing our ass-backward revenue streams in Seattle. Just weeks after our endorsement interview, she presented a collaborative effort with the mayor to reform our tax code to reduce the taxes that small businesses are paying, shift the burden to big business, and raise an extra $90 million in the process. Now thatâs what we call progressive revenue!
Rinck doesnât have much competition in this race. Her standout opponent is Rachael Savage, who quite frankly fascinates us, even if we had to sage the office after she left. A Republican with chunky jewelry and overlined lipstick who started the election season running for mayor, Savage switched to a City Council race just before the filing deadline. She owns a new-age shop on Capitol Hill, runs a meditation program, and believes that her experience getting sober justifies her argument that people who are mentally ill or dealing with âlate-stageâ addiction should be shipped to facilities for Shiny Happy People outside of the city. Oh, and she told us words are never violent and hate speech doesnât exist.
This election has the chance to reshape our city council into a functioning governing body (would we even recognize it?) and we want to see what Rinck can do when sheâs not swimming upstream. Vote Rinck.
