Tag Archives: Kathy Lambert

News

King County Conservatives Discredit Progressive POC Candidates as ‘Defund’ Extremists

by Nathalie Graham

Earlier this month, King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert faced repercussions for a racist campaign ad she funded. The ad depicted her colleague, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay as a socialist puppeteer pulling the strings of Sarah Perry. Perry, Lambert’s opponent, is bringing Lambert the first real fight for a seat she’s held comfortably for 20 years. 

Lambert’s ad also associated Zahilay, who is not a socialist, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant. After public outcry, Lambert resigned from the King County Council committees she chaired.

In the age of Trump and social media-fueled polarization, “conflict and sensationalism” sells, says Zahilay. Politicians have pivoted to “divisiveness and scare tactics” to “rile up their base.” Zahilay sees this trend emerging across all levels of politics, local King County elections included. 

Continue reading King County Conservatives Discredit Progressive POC Candidates as ‘Defund’ Extremists →
Voices

OPINION: Racist Deeds Without Adequate Consequences

by Glenn Nelson

I’m going to skip right to the punchline here: The King County Council failed last week when it asked Kathy Lambert to apologize for what six of them termed her “racist piece of political mail.” It also acted insufficiently on Tuesday when it voted to strip Lambert of her committee leadership positions. Nothing short of her resignation or removal is enough of a reckoning for what even in today’s divisive climate were absurdly blatant, public, and undeniably racist actions.

With a super-majority endorsing her opponent, Sarah Perry, the Council has only partly done a deed that they should have finished.

That is, unless they all can rationalize that, by following the research and advice of her political consultant, Lambert simply was representing her constituency. Even that is more problematic than it sounds.

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News

“Youth Jail” Opposition to County: “Stop Ignoring Communities of Color”

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by Marcus Harrison Green

Editor’s Note: This is the second article in our series examining the impact of King County’s proposed new youth detention center on the South Seattle community. The first one can be read here.

As Seattle’s streets continue to crackle with protests proclaiming “Black Lives Matter,” uproar has been rekindled surrounding King County’s plan to build a new youth detention center that critics say will further discount those same lives. Continue reading “Youth Jail” Opposition to County: “Stop Ignoring Communities of Color” →