Kshama Sawant, Seattle’s longtime socialist City Council member, is challenging U.S. Representative Adam Smith in the 2026 election. If she’s successful, Sawant said she will bring the same fighting strategy she used in Seattle City Hall to end the genocide in Gaza, secure free healthcare by taxing the rich, and institute a national rent control policy. While she’s running on a straight-forward and popular platform, Sawant’s path to victory looks narrow.
That’s disappointing. Leading is very different from protesting, and it remains unclear whether Sawant has learned the difference. And if she can’t regularly show up to city council meetings, why should anyone believe she would be able to work with other federal representatives? She’s chaos in a bottle, and that’s no way to govern.