(The following was posted on Jess Spear’s campaign website.)
Seattle’s Second Socialist
Kicks Off Her Campaign to Take Out the Speaker of the House!
“Frank Chopp does not represent the progressive 43rd District. While criminally underfunding education and social services, he presides over a State legislature which hands out $6 billion in corporate welfare every year. It’s time we elect a genuine representative of working people to fight for our interests.” -Jess Spear
On Saturday, the campaign to elect Seattle’s second socialist representative, Jess Spear, officially began. A smashing success, the Vermillion was packed with loud enthusiastic supporters. Party goers donated nearly $6,000 to the campaign – no corporate donations here – largely in $25 and $50 donations.
We Don’t Have to Take It Any More
Socialist Alternative Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant whipped up the crowd: “While Frank Chopp and the Democrats in Olympia complained about this issue or that when failing to pass even a $12 minimum wage increase through committee, electing a socialist in Seattle won $15 an hour.”
The Vote Spear campaign is gathering the momentum started with the election of Kshama Sawant and blooming with the recent precedent-setting victory of 15 Now.
Councilmember Sawant pointed to the historic importance of the Vote Spear campaign as a move beyond a single voice for workers, and the opportunities that will bring. “If it stands alone, the corporate establishment can paint my election as a flash in the pan. With the election of a second socialist, our message will be clear: This is a movement, and it’s growing. We are helping to expose the reality of corporate politics,” she exclaimed to roars of applause.
As organizing director for 15 Now, Jess Spear lead the way, building the movement that woa
Spear took the podium after Sawant and laid out the case against 20-year incumbent Chopp – his track record of selling out working people and his long list of satisfied corporate donors. She spoke to the dire need for rent control to loud applause, and took up the urgency of taxing the rich to fund social services.
The raucous crowd alternately cheered and booed as Spear put Chopp’s voting record on trial: “When he controlled congress, he fought for taxes on working people, not corporations. He raised tuitions, cut social services, and kicked 70,000 people off of public health. We don’t accept his excuses. Working people didn’t cause this recession. Wall Street did, but he forced working people to pay for it.” She contrasted Chopp’s attention to his corporate donors versus the lack of attention to working people, including his crowning $8.7 billion no-strings-attached gift to Boeing just last year.
The Vote Spear campaign is 100% funded by real people with not a dime taken from business. Frank Chopp raises money by going to Boeing, to big developers that oppose rent control, and the Washington Restaurant Association that opposed $15/hour in Seattle – money that comes with strings attached. Each dollar the Spear campaign raises will be paired with a mass movement of volunteers working to stretch those dollars as far as possible. Every dollar donated to Vote Spear will be crucial to winning this race.
The Vote Spear campaign is 100% funded by real people with not a dime taken from business. Frank Chopp raises money by going to Boeing, to big developers that oppose rent control, and the Washington Restaurant Association that opposed $15/hour in Seattle – money that comes with strings attached. Each dollar the Spear campaign raises will be paired with a mass movement of volunteers working to stretch those dollars as far as possible. Every dollar donated to Vote Spear will be crucial to winning this race.
You can help by getting involved in the Vote Spear campaign. Volunteer to talk to neighbors, host a party, or phone bank. Support the campaign by making a donation today. Unlike the money going to Chopp from Boeing and all their corporate brothers and sisters – our campaign will be used to help working people, rather than to push us down.
Saturday’s success says a lot about Jess as a leader, organizer, and future Washington State House Representative, but it also demonstrates the growing movement to replace the corporate power structure with one that serves the needs of working people. This movement is rolling on from $15 in Seattle – next stop: Olympia!