By now, you've probably heard that Amazon donated $1.45 million to the political arm of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant has decried the donation. Calling it “a flagrant attempt to undermine Seattle’s democratic process.”
That claim is now proving to be fodder for her opponent Egan Orion.
A new ad funded by his campaign says the majority of Sawant’s campaign donations are from outside her district and Seattle.
We decided to Verity this ad through Seattle’s Department of Ethics and Elections.
Claim #1: Orion uses Seattle’s democracy voucher program and Sawant does not
This is true. Orion has received 5,171 vouchers, second to only incumbent Lisa Herbold. Sawant is not in the program.
Claim #2: More of Orion’s donations came from inside the city
The ad says 91% of Orion’s money has come from donors within the city limits. This is true.
Orion’s ad claimed that only 47% of Sawant’s donations came from inside the city. As of last week, 45% of her donations came from outside – slightly off from Orion’s claim. So, we’ll call that mostly true.
Claim #3: Most of Sawant’s donations come from outside District 3
The ad says just 26% of her donations come from within her own district. As of last week, Sawant was 27.2%. So, again, we’ll call this mostly true.
Of course, all of this is separate from spending by politics action committees, of which Orion’s campaign has received a boost.