Kshama Sawant

Kshama Sawant
Sawant in 2016
Member of the Seattle City Council
In office
January 1, 2014 – January 2, 2024
Preceded byRichard Conlin
Succeeded byJoy Hollingsworth
ConstituencyPosition 2 (2014–2016)
3rd district (2016–2024)
Personal details
Born (1973-10-17) October 17, 1973 (age 51)
Pune, India
Political partyRevolutionary Workers
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Alternative (until 2024)
Democratic Socialists of America (since 2021)
Spouses
Vivek Sawant
​
(before 2016)​
Calvin Priest
​
(m. 2016)​
EducationUniversity of Mumbai (BS)
North Carolina State University (MA, PhD)
Signature
WebsiteGovernment website

Kshama Sawant (/kʃʌmɑː sɑːˈwʌnt/; born October 17, 1973)[1][2] is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She was a member of Socialist Alternative, the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.

A former software engineer, Sawant became an economics instructor in Seattle after immigrating to the United States from her native India.[3] She ran unsuccessfully for the Washington House of Representatives in 2012 before winning her seat on the Seattle City Council in 2013. She was the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board in 1916.[4][5] Sawant narrowly survived a December 7, 2021 recall election for her position on the council by a margin of 310 votes, or 0.76%. It was the first held in Seattle since 1975.

In January 2023, Sawant announced that she would not seek re-election, and would instead promote the Socialist Alternative campaign Workers Strike Back to unionize workers.[6] In 2024 Sawant announced she had left Socialist Alternative and formed her own party Revolutionary Workers.[7]

  1. ^ November 1, 2013. 'How do you pronounce your first and last names?' Archived August 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. reddit.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference dissertation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Scigliano, Eric (November 6, 2013). "Disenchantment and dismay - unless you're Kshama Sawant". Crosscut. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Connelly, Joel (November 14, 2013). "Socialist Sawant wins City Council seat". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  5. ^ Seattle elects first socialist City Council member Archived November 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. KING 5. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  6. ^ Taylor, Sarah Grace; Beekman, Daniel (January 19, 2023). "Kshama Sawant will not seek reelection to Seattle City Council". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023.
  7. ^ https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25041448-why-were-launching-revolutionary-workers-leaving-socialist-alternative