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nAme A policy supporTed by A democrATic presiden-
tial candidate this year and odds are good it’s been passed into
law in Seattle. The Emerald City has approved a $15 minimum
wage (which Elizabeth Warren calls for); unveiled a domestic
workers’ bill of rights (like the one Kamala Harris wants); and
voted to tax the rich (a Bernie Sanders–backed plan), though
that’s tied up in court.
But Seattle’s business leaders are pushing back, pouring
hundreds of thousands of dollars into an upcoming election
in an effort to unseat the city’s progressive leadership in favor
of contenders who, while still Democrats, take more moderate
positions on fiscal issues. “There’s a basic feeling that [the city
council] isn’t doing a good job, and we don’t want them to take
actions that are going to hurt the one thing that is going well in
our town: the economy,” says Heather Redman, a venture capi-
talist and the chair of the Washington Technology Industry As-
sociation, whose membership includes Amazon and Microsoft.
With an unprecedented seven of nine city-council seats
up for grabs on Nov. 5, the election offers local business lead-
ers a rare opportunity to hit Seattle’s political reset button.
“The Chamber [of Commerce] sees this election as a way to
take control of the council,” says Knute Berger, a columnist for
Seattle magazine. The outcome is likely to resonate nationally,
as cities across the country get caught up in the struggle be-
tween progressive politicians and corporate interests.
Seattle’s left-leaning council members, like Teresa
Mosqueda, say their policies have helped, not hurt, the city’s
economy. The Seattle metro area has a 3.6% unemployment
rate, compared with the state average of
4.6%, and taxable retail sales in Seattle
have grown 42% since 2014, according
to state data. Last year Forbes named
Seattle the best place in the country for
business and careers. Tech companies in
particular have boomed. “I think part of
what has made this economy so good is
the fact that we’ve invested in workers,”
says Mosqueda.The Tech secTor disagrees. Ama-
zon has given around $1.5 million to
a political action committee (PAC)
sponsored by Seattle’s Chamber of
Commerce that has endorsed nonin-
cumbents for all but one seat. Amazon
executives have given the maximum
$500 to many of the candidates run-
ning against incumbents and the maxi-
mum $5,000 to a PAC that says it wants
a “pragmatic” council. Amazon do-
nated to the chamber’s PAC “because
we care about the economic health of
Seattle and the region,” a spokesperson
says. Other companies that donated
to the PAC this year include Expedia
($50,000) and Boeing ($30,000).
How might tech’s big money affect
the upcoming election? Last year,
amid a mounting homelessness crisis,
Seattle passed a $275-per-employee tax
on big businesses to pay for housing
and related programs. After the vote,
businesses spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars to try to send the tax to a
ballot referendum. In the face of intense
corporate pressure, many of the council
members who voted in favor of the
tax went back and voted to repeal it.
The embarrassing do-over was a big
win for Seattle’s business community,
at the cost of a major progressive
achievement.
As cities become more liberal nation-
wide, tensions between business lead-
ers and elected officials are likely only
to rise. Around 62% of registered voters
in urban counties identified as Demo-
crats in 2017, according to Pew, up from
55% in 1998. Seattle’s election may be a
test of whether businesses’ significant
money will be able to sway these in-
creasingly liberal urbanites, either now
or in the future. “If they do this here,”
says Heather Weiner, a Seattle political
consultant, “they’ll be doing it around
the country.” □BUSINESS
A beta test for
Big Tech’s clout
By Alana Semuels
△
Amazon and
other tech
companies have
put millions
into Seattle’s
election