Kshama Sawant, a Seattle socialist, to challenge veteran WA Democratic congressman

Kshama Sawant, the socialist who served a decade on the Seattle City Council, launched a “working-class, antiwar, anti-genocide” campaign Monday to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith in the 2026 election.

At her campaign kick-off in Seattle, Sawant called for a $25 an hour minimum wage, universal health care and a halt in U.S. military aid to Israel for its ongoing offensive against Hamas. Sawant did not seek re-election in 2023 as she established Workers Strike Back, an activist group focused on pro-labor causes and other issues.

The Seattle resident vowed, if elected, to “flip the script on how to use elected office” as she did as a city leader from 2014 to 2024.

“My socialist city council office went to war for working people to defeat the strenuous opposition from both big business and the Democratic Party,” she said in a statement. “Our experience in Seattle shows that we can defeat the rich and their political servants.”

Sawant filed as an independent with the Federal Election Commission.

Smith, who’s served in the U.S. House since 1997, said Sawant’s candidacy will offer voters “a clear contrast.”

“Her record on the Seattle City Council is defined by extreme, divisive tactics and policies that left lasting harm,” he said in a statement.

The war in Gaza will be a major issue in the campaign.

Sawant hit hard Monday, saying that because the Democrats and Republican parties have backed U.S. support of Israel “to the hilt,” they both are “responsible for what is in reality a new holocaust” in which thousands have died and Gaza has been reduced to rubble.

Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has “blood on his hands” for fully endorsing the policies, she said.

He, in turn, said Sawant bears responsibility for Republican Donald Trump winning the presidency because she actively campaigned against former Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the office, undermining Democratic efforts to defeat Trump.

“I have constantly fought against Donald Trump and the devastating policies he is forcing on the American people,” Smith said.

The two will duel to represent the 9th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Seattle and Bellevue as well as the south King County communities of Renton, Tukwila, Kent, Des Moines and Federal Way.