Bernie Sanders throws support behind quartet of Seattle council candidates
Nov 5, 2019, 8:35 AM | Updated: 1:29 pm
2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
(Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
2020 presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Tweeted his support for a quartet of Seattle City Council candidates Tuesday, as Election Day kicks off statewide.
2020 candidates speak out against Amazon political spending
Sanders has long been critical of corporate interests asserting influence over national elections, but chose Seattle’s own hotly-contested council campaigns to weigh in on out of the many local races taking place across the U.S. Tuesday.
“Jeff Bezos and Amazon think they can buy elections,” Sanders Tweeted out Tuesday morning.
He went on to decry the company recently donating over $1 million to to the Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE), a political group that acts on the behalf of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He also voiced his support for District 1 incumbent Lisa Herbold, District 2 candidate Tammy Morales, District 3 incumbent Kshama Sawant, and District 4 candidate Shaun Scott.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon think they can buy elections.
They spent $1 million to stop City Council candidates @d1forLisa, @TammyMoralesSEA, @VoteSawant and @ElectScott2019.
Show Amazon that they can't buy our democracy and that their corporate greed won't stand. Get out and vote!
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 5, 2019
In October, fellow Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren also spoke out, noting how she’s “with the Seattle council members and activists who continue standing up to Amazon.”
“Surprise: Amazon is trying to tilt the Seattle City Council elections in their favor,” she Tweeted. “… Corporations aren’t people, and I have a plan to get big money out of politics.”
Around that same time, Sanders first weighed in on Amazon’s campaign donations.
Business, labor groups dump big money to flip Seattle council
“In a city struggling with homelessness, Amazon is dropping an outrageous amount of money to defeat progressive candidates fighting for working people,” he said. “The way Amazon conducts itself in its hometown is a perfect example of the out-of-control corporate greed we are going to end.”
In total, Amazon has donated $1.45 million to CASE.
CASE-endorsed candidates made it out of the August primaries in all seven council districts in Seattle. Leading up to the primary, it had spent nearly three times more than the next highest-spending independent political action committee. All that has functioned as part of a larger plan to support more moderate, business-friendly candidates.
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