Fiery Kshama Sawant Launches Congressional Bid

India-West Staff Reporter

SEATTLE, WA — Former Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant announced on June 2 that she is running for Congress in Washington’s 9th District, challenging longtime Democratic Rep. Adam Smith in the 2026 election.

At a fiery news conference in downtown Seattle, the 51-year-old socialist declared her campaign would focus on ending U.S. military funding for Israel, demanding Medicare for All, and building mass movements outside the two-party system. “Working people have no political representation under capitalism,” Sawant said. “Both the Democrats and Republicans serve the interests of the billionaires, and both are warmongering parties down to their bones.”

Sawant, who served on the City Council from 2014 to 2023, touted her record of pushing through progressive policies like a $15 minimum wage, rent control measures, and the so-called “Amazon Tax” on big businesses to fund affordable housing. “We won because we didn’t rely on backroom deals or party loyalty,” she said. “Unlike the ‘Squad’ and other ‘progressives,’ I kept my promises.”

Now, she said, it’s time to take that same fighting strategy to Congress. “I will accept only an average worker’s wage if elected,” she promised, vowing to donate the rest of her Congressional salary to labor and social justice movements.

Sawant repeatedly attacked Rep. Adam Smith, whom she called “a general among the war hawks.” She blasted his support for military aid to Israel, his ties to weapons manufacturers, and his votes for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Ukraine.

She accused Smith of being “a darling of AIPAC and the weapons industry” and of opposing progressive reforms, including Medicare for All. “He sounds more like a Republican than a lot of Republicans,” she said, referencing Smith’s past appearance on a right-wing podcast where he denounced “extreme left policies.”

Sawant also took aim at other Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for what she called capitulating to corporate interests. “Progressive Democrats have long since given up the fight,” she said.

Her campaign is tied to Workers Strike Back, the national movement she founded after stepping down from City Council. As part of that effort, Sawant is also planning a Seattle ballot initiative to tax major corporations $5 billion annually to fund free public healthcare.

“We need a new party for working people,” Sawant declared. “We need a fundamentally different kind of society, run by and for working people, not the billionaires.”