Tag Archives: Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

OPINION: Community Is All We Need

by Nura Ahmed 


It was election day, Nov. 2, 2019. Hope and anticipation filled the air and Seattle’s communities of color were restless and agitated, facing an unknown future. It was pouring down rain as final results rolled in. Shaun Scott was running on a democratic-socialist platform, alongside many other progressive candidates looking to make a change in our city, county, and state. 

I started organizing for progressive candidates that same year. I believed in our electoral system, that politics was the means for achieving liberation. But what I learned instead was that our electoral system has a lot more to do with money than liberation. It was heartbreaking to see grounded-in-community progressives lose because it showed where our power structure’s real interest lies. 

It was never in the community. It has always been in protecting corporate interests. It was disheartening and it made me realize that our electoral system was never created for us. The election in 2019 only showed us that City Council elections can be bought.

Continue reading OPINION: Community Is All We Need

Seattle and King County General Election Results

by Nathalie Graham, Agueda Pacheco Flores, Ashley Archibald, Chetanya Robinson, Marcus Green


Editors’ Note: We will continue to update this article with election updates in the coming days.

Seattle voters appeared to be embracing moderate candidates in key races for mayor, city attorney and City Council, according to early returns Tuesday night.

Updated results as of 11/04/2021

Seattle Mayor’s Race

Update 11/05/2021, 1:00 p.m.:

Lorena González conceded the mayor’s race, making Bruce Harrell Seattle’s next mayor.

She tweeted her concession Thursday after election results showed Harrell leading González 62% to 38% with just under 33% of ballots counted.

“With today’s ballot drop, it’s clear that Bruce Harrell will be the next Mayor of Seattle,” she said on @MLorenaGonzalez “Earlier, I called him to congratulate him on a hard-fought race and wished him much luck in his efforts to make progress on the challenges Seattle faces.”

Update 11/04/2021, 4:00 p.m.:

With just under 33% of ballots counted, Bruce Harrell leads Lorena González 62% to 38%.

Bruce Harrell was leading Lorena González 65% to 35% in a race to elect Seattle’s next mayor and potentially set the course on homelessness, policing, affordable housing, and other critical issues facing the city.

Seattle voters found themselves in a similar position Tuesday night to election nights past: Should the electorate choose a moderate Democrat or a progressive to steer the city? 

Continue reading Seattle and King County General Election Results

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

What Is Justice and How Should It Be Administered: Seattle’s City Attorney Race

by Alexa Peters


The race for Seattle’s next city attorney has been a surprising one since three-term incumbent Pete Holmes conceded in the August primaries, leaving newcomers Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and Ann Davison to duke it out.

The typically uneventful race for an often overlooked office heated up after many of Thomas-Kennedy’s controversial anti-police Tweets from 2020 resurfaced, prompting local media and previous Seattle municipal court judges to question her fitness for the City Attorney’s Office. Even Fox News’ Tucker Carlson took a stab at the candidate during a September segment of his show, calling the candidate flat-out “crazy.” Meanwhile, Davison, who recently switched from Republican to “moderate Democrat,” has come under fire for her Republican rhetoric and ties to a video campaign organized by a Trump supporter who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

In looking beyond political warfare, experts say the race for city attorney gets to the heart of a question all the more relevant since anti-police protests broke out in 2020: In Seattle, what do we consider justice and how should it be administered? Our selection for city attorney will be decided on voters’ answers to those questions.

Continue reading What Is Justice and How Should It Be Administered: Seattle’s City Attorney Race

The Morning Update Show — 9/15/21

The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope, and whereweconverge.com.

We also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.

Morning Update Show — Wednesday, September 15

LIVE — Tara DuBois | Africatown to Have Shelter in Keiro Building | 37th Dems Endorse Thomas-Kennedy | KD Hall Making Major Moves | Spotlight on Black Business

Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 9/15/21

37th District Dems Endorse Thomas-Kennedy for City Attorney, No Mayoral Endorsement

by Emerald staff


In a marathon session, more than 100 37th District Democrats met for nearly five hours on Zoom on the evening of Monday, Sept. 13, to make the organization’s general election endorsements. Endorsements require a 60% majority and included:

Continue reading 37th District Dems Endorse Thomas-Kennedy for City Attorney, No Mayoral Endorsement

How Racial Perceptions Can Dictate Success of Seattle’s Radical Candidates

by Hannah Krieg

(This article was originally published by Real Change News and has been reprinted with permission.)


“I think I’m going to do this,” Nicole Thomas-Kennedy said to public defender Sadé Smith, a friend and former colleague, when she decided to run for Seattle city attorney as an abolitionist. “Are you sure you don’t want to do it?”

Thomas-Kennedy, who is white, wanted to double-check. She later told Real Change, “If there was a BIPOC abolitionist running for city attorney, I probably would never have entered the race.”

It was the day of the filing deadline for the 2021 primary when political newcomer Thomas-Kennedy decided to challenge 12-year incumbent Pete Holmes.

Continue reading How Racial Perceptions Can Dictate Success of Seattle’s Radical Candidates

Abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy Announces Last-Minute Run for City Attorney

by Mark Van Streefkerk 


Attorney Nicole Thomas-Kennedy decided to run for Seattle City Attorney literally overnight. She’d heard that current City Attorney Pete Holmes was about to run for a fourth term unchallenged. She took a night to think about it and the next day, filed for candidacy. It just happened to be the last day to file. Though Holmes has been touted as a progressive City Attorney, Thomas-Kennedy thinks it’s about time the people had an abolitionist option. 

Continue reading Abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy Announces Last-Minute Run for City Attorney