by Alex Garland
On Friday, Jan. 26, a group of 16 local activists, including eight members from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and representatives from IfNotNow, orchestrated a sit-in at Rep. Adam Smith’s office in Renton, pressing for immediate action on the ongoing siege of Gaza. Ten were arrested.
Continue reading Local Activists Who Staged Sit-In Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire at Rep. Adam Smith’s Office Arrested for Trespassingby M. Anthony Davis
Stephanie Gallardo, an educator, activist, and labor organizer, announced today she will challenge incumbent Adam Smith, a Democrat from Bellevue who has held the 9th Congressional District seat since 1997.
Continue reading Organizer Stephanie Gallardo Announces Congressional Run Against Adam Smithby Emerald Staff
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA 9th Congressional District, including South Seattle), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, answered questions from journalists at a press conference on Tuesday about President Trump’s call to utilize the U.S. military to intervene to stop the “insurrection” of demonstrators protesting the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis police officers. According to Trump, states have been weak in handling demonstrators and he said he would call in the military if states don’t bring order to their cities soon. Many legal experts and communities are concerned about the constitutionality of Trump’s proposal to use the military in a domestic situation.
Continue reading Congressman Smith Rejects Trump’s Call for Military Interventionby Geov Parrish
Nationally, Tuesday’s election pretty much went as polls suggested they would. With Democrats and Republicans highly motivated to vote this year, 2018’s midterms have shattered all kinds of national election turnout records for a non-presidential year. In Washington State, however, the 1970 record, which topped a whopping 70 percent, remains unchallenged. But with that enthusiasm, far more people than usual voted early: Almost half of the state’s 4.3 million registered voters had their ballots counted with the state’s first release of election totals on Tuesday night. That will likely be at least two-thirds of the final total of voters. That means that candidates with a significant first-night lead in key races will be difficult to overcome as more ballots are counted.
by Geov Parrish
Okay, so granted, the concept of “American democracy” is a bit tarnished: Citizens United, voter suppression, gerrymandering, this list goes on ad nauseam. A 2014 Princeton study found that there was no statistical correlation between what, according to public polling, the American public wants Congress to do and what Congress actually does. But there is a very high correlation between what the very wealthy want (using the same metric) and what Congress actually does. That’s not a representative democracy but a plutocracy — which is, arguably, what America’s heavily worshiped “founding fathers” wanted to begin with.
Continue reading General Election 2018: The Vote to Save Democracy
by Aaron Burkhalter
Congressional hopeful Sarah Smith met longtime incumbent Adam Smith for a debate at the Rainier Arts Center Oct. 18 in their bid for the congressional seat representing District 9, which encompasses Southeast Seattle and South King County.
