New District Elections Brings New Opportunity to Shape City Hall: Candidate Endorsements Mostly New Faces with Strong Community Ties

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This year, UFCW 21 did an early endorsement for Mike O’Brien (District 6) and Kshama Sawant (District 3). Today, UFCW 21 is announcing the rest of our endorsements for Seattle City Council.

With both Congress and the State Legislature tied-up in knots and mostly stalled in partisan gridlock, many active organizations across the nation are finding that city halls can be the best chance for creating change. Local Seattle examples from Paid Sick Days to a higher minimum wage have not only passed, but helped contribute to a nationwide movement for change. As a result, local Seattle City Council races are more important than ever.

In addition to the early endorsement (5/6/15) of O’Brien and Sawant, and our endorsement of Bruce Harrell (District 2), UFCW 21 Seattle City Council Endorsements include these new candidates for City Hall:

Lorena González: Position 9, City Wide

Jon Grant: Position 8, City Wide

Rob Johnson: District 4

Dual Primary Endorsement: Sandy Brown and Halei Watkins: District 5

“The new labor standards we have passed in Seattle in the last four years are great, but workers still face many struggles that require legislative solutions, like affordable housing, transportations, hours and scheduling, police accountability, and environmental protections.”
— Sarah Cherin, Political and Public Policy Director of UFCW 21.

Lisa Herbold: District 1

With every city council position open this year, 2015 provides a real opportunity for a set of values in city hall and local expertise on issues that matter most to our members and the communities we all live in:

Mike O’Brien
(Champion for labor, environment, accountability and our community benefits)

Kshama Sawant
(Leader on Higher Wages, better labor enforcement)

Jon Grant
(Housing)

 Rob Johnson
(Transportation)

Lorena González
(Employment rights and labor enforcement)

Sandy Brown
(Social Services)

Halei Watkins
(Civil Rights)

Lisa Herbold
(People’s knowledge of City Hall, strong progressive)

Bruce Harrell
(Ban the Box, Minimum Wage, Worker Scheduling)